


Roommate Trap

by GNCD4ever



Category: Golden Child (Korea Band)
Genre: Accidents, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Angst and Drama, Fiction, Gay, M/M, Romance, Temporary Amnesia, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:55:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 35,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27277582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GNCD4ever/pseuds/GNCD4ever
Summary: Jaehyun comes back from the States after more than 3 years. He finds out that his friend lied to him about having an apartment on his own after he met his roommate Jibeom. After knowing that Jibeom only agreed to have him as his roommate because he thought that he was Jihyun, Jaehyun pretended to be his twin brother in order to stay until he finds a new place but little did he know about their true relationship
Relationships: Bae Seungmin/Son Youngtaek | TAG, Bong Jaehyun/Kim Jibeom
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

It has been so long since I have returned back to Korea. Not once did I ever miss this place and I wouldn’t have returned if my parents had just agreed to pay for my college in the States. I liked living in the States because no one can tell me what I can or can’t do. Carrying my luggage, I looked through the crowd for whoever my family had sent to fetch me. It wasn’t long when I saw a sign that says, ‘Bong Jaehyun’ and upon looking at the person holding it, I wasn’t surprised to see someone wearing a driver’s uniform.

“Hey. That’s me” I say pointing to the paper. The driver looked stunned to see my face and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing because I definitely know the reason why.

“We look the same right?” I ask. “Anyways, let’s go. I don’t want to stay longer here.” I added passing through the people who are also waiting for the other passengers.

The driver silently says yes and asks me if he could carry my luggage instead and I didn’t hesitate to give it to him. When the car arrives at the front, I quickly get in the backseat while the driver puts my luggage at the compartment. After, the driver gets on and drives away from the airport.

“Go to A University” I commanded while I looked through the window. Even though I have been gone for more than 3 years, not a lot has changed.

“Sir, the madam said that I should drive you home,” he explains.

“I’m not coming home. Drive me to A University now or I’ll force myself out of this car” I threaten him. The driver quietly nodded and drove me off to the university like I wanted. Upon arriving, I quickly got out and asked him to open the compartment so I could get my luggage. He hesitantly complies, and I said thanks before getting my stuff.

“Tell her that I threatened you. That way, you won’t get in trouble” I said to him and walked away. I look back to see if he’s gone and I’m grateful that he did. I take my phone out and call Youngtaek.

“Hello. Youngtaek” I greet him.

“Oh, Jaehyun” he replies.

“I’m at A University right now. You can pick me up already” I say to him.

“Ok ok. I’ll be there in 5 minutes” Youngtaek replies again then hangs up.

Youngtaek is one of my good friends during middle school and thanks to him; I got to rent an apartment that is near to our school so I wouldn’t need to go home. After a few minutes of waiting, Youngtaek finally arrives with his 2019 Audi A5.

“Sweet ride huh?” Youngtaek asks and I just chuckled while shaking my head. “Put your luggage at the back,” he added.

“Sure” I say walking towards the back compartment. I open it up and with great effort I manage to lift my luggage and put it inside before closing it. Then, I walk to the passenger side taking a seat.

“Yah. You could have helped me with my stuff, you know?” I say to him and Youngtaek laughs.

“I’m sorry bro. But you know I don’t like doing manual labor” he says back.

“You’re just lazy” I say rolling my eyes. Youngtaek continues to laugh while driving away. “You know that we’re both lazy” he quietly replies.

The drive was never quiet because Youngtaek wouldn’t stop talking about everything that happened to him while I was gone. I didn’t say a lot and I just quietly listened to him. It didn’t take long before we arrived at the apartment that I rented. Youngtaek miraculously tries to help me with my luggage before making sure his car is safe. I looked at him confused and he just nervously laughs. What happened to the ‘I hate doing manual labor’? We got on the elevator and he pressed eleven.

When the door opened, Youngtaek quickly went first to the apartment door and opened it, helping me go inside. The apartment is very big just like how I wanted although it will be a bit sad living here alone.

“That is your room” he added pointing to the door away from the living room. He opens the door, putting my luggage inside giving me a quick look. “And that is the bathroom” he says pointing to the door that is closest to the entrance. I nodded to him but then realized that there is another door, “What about that door?” I ask

“Uhh... that’s just the storage. The original owner also told me to tell you that you shouldn’t open that door.” He nervously explains. “So…I gotta go. I still have some stuff to do. Here’s the key and will you be okay?” Youngtaek asks while giving me the key and I tell him that I’ll be fine. We said our goodbyes to each other before Youngtaek hurriedly left and I locked the door. 

I went to my room and it’s very big compared to others that I usually see. I open my luggage, taking out my clothes and other stuff. After a few hours I heard the front door open and I thought that it was probably Youngtaek forgetting something. I was about to come out when I realized that Youngtaek gave me the key so he couldn’t possibly open the door. I looked for something hard to protect myself and all I could see was a vase. I slowly came out of my room while holding the vase with both of my hands. I tried to quietly look for the intruder until I saw him standing at the storage room door. I bumped into the table because I panicked a bit and the guy turned around. I was a bit star struck because he was really handsome and that he’s giving off a really cool and princely vibe. 

“Who are you?” I ask him and the guy looks at me in excitement.

“Jihyun!” the guy shouts making me flinch and lowering my hands. I couldn’t say anything else after hearing that name but the guy quickly ran towards me giving me a hug. “It’s me. Jibeom. Don’t you remember?” he asks. I guess my mouth is faster than my brain because before I could think of saying I’m not Jihyun I say, “Who? I don’t remember any Jibeom.”

‘Jibeom’ pulled himself away and I could see his face go down and he was disappointed. “That’s okay. I heard you were in an accident before and I guess it messed up your memory.” He explains

I was about to say that I wasn’t Jihyun but he quickly cuts me off, “So I’m Jibeom. We used to be friends in middle school and I’m also your roommate” he explains.

Roommates? Excuse me what now? Nobody said anything about a roommate! I put the vase down while I excused myself as I hurriedly went back to my room to call Youngtaek.

“What’s up buddy?” He answers.

“Don’t buddy me! Why didn’t you tell me about having a roommate? I asked you to find an apartment that I could live in alone.” I furiously asked him.

“I’m sorry for not telling you but what was I supposed to do? You suddenly asked me only 3 days before the semester starts. Did you honestly think you could find a solo apartment that quickly?” He explains and upon realizing, I think it was a bit selfish for me to make him find an apartment in such a short time.

“Fine but why didn’t you tell me? You could have said that I’ll have a roommate.” I ask again.

“Because I know that you won’t accept it. Look, you barely got that apartment. My friend said that you and your roommate used to be friends and that’s why he agreed.” Youngtaek explains again.

Friends? Is that the reason why he agreed because he thought that I was Jihyun? If that is the case then will he make me leave if I tell him the truth? No. Youngtaek said that I barely got this apartment so if I can’t find any apartment then that means I’ll be forced to go back home. No. I can't return back home after all this time. I have to make sure that I'll stay here. But wait, I gave Youngtaek my profile and it clearly states there that my name is Jaehyun. How did he confuse me with Jihyun?

“Fine but last question. Did you give my profile and information to my roommate?” I lastly ask.

“I didn’t. He never asked. My friend said that he’ll fix everything and that the profile isn’t needed because he’s your friend.” Youngtaek says and I let out a sigh. I admit my roommate is handsome but he can also be stupid for not asking the profile. But if he saw my profile, would he actually kick me out?

I said goodbye to Youngtaek and I went out of my room to find him sitting on the couch. He stands up and asks me if everything is alright.

“Yeah. I’m sorry for walking away like that. I just had to confirm something.” I explain. I know what I’m about to do is wrong but I have no choice. I can’t let him kick me out, not until I find another apartment I can live in.

"I'm really sorry but I can’t really remember you." I told him and he looked sad. "But since we've met each other again then maybe I could slowly remember you." I lie and his face lights up that there might be hope. I felt guilty because there was no way that I could remember him because I'm not Jihyun.

“It’s nice to meet you again Jihyun” he says then holds my hand for the handshake. I can feel Jibeom’s joy and something in my heart tells me that I didn’t want to remove that. “So…since we’re roommates, do you have any rules or something that I should follow?” I ask.

“Right! There’s a cleaning lady that comes here every Sunday to clean up the apartment since I usually don’t like to clean. She’s not allowed to clean the rooms so rest assured. Also, I think it’s best if we know each other’s schedule so we could tell when the other person is home.” Jibeom explains.

“I see. What about meals? Do you cook?” I ask him. Jibeom slightly nods. 

"I usually order food but there are times where I cook my own meals. What about you?” he asks and I look down from being embarrassed.

"I don't really cook. I've done it a few times but I can't say that I'm a good cook." I replied and I could hear him laugh.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed about it since I used to be like that too. If you want I can cook a few meals for us” he says. 

“Really? I mean that would be great and all but won’t it burden you?” I ask worriedly.

“It won’t since I’ll only do it if I have time and since I've always cooked before, adding another portion won't bother me that much.” he replies while patting my shoulder as a reassurance. I lowered my head because I still think that I’m going to be a bother and I think Jibeom noticed that because he suddenly asked, “Then do you want me to teach you when I cook?”

“Yes" I tell him, lifting my head up and I see him smiling. “I mean I would prefer that. Thank you.” I added.

"Then it’s settled. Also is there anything that you like or don't like to eat? Just to be safe." He asks. I tell him that I really don't like eating seafood and that I really like eating eggplants. "I see. Well I like eggplants too, that won't be much of a problem. I’ll just remember that no seafood." He says

Jibeom suddenly takes my hand and holds it firmly with both of his hands while looking straight into my eyes, piercing me with his deep brown eyes. “I’m so glad that we met again” Jibeom says while smiling gently. 

His stare was very intense and it made me look at him deeply making my heart skip a beat. “So…um…I still have to fix my stuff so if you could let go of my hand now” I uncomfortably say to him.

“Oh right sorry.” He quickly lets go of my hand looking away like a lost puppy. I walk away going back to my room but before I could close the door Jibeom stops me. “I just want to ask what you want to have for dinner.” He says

“I’ll just have sweet and sour pork“ I replied to him. Jibeom nodded and gently let go of the door. I watch him walk away first before finally closing the door then leaning to it. I put my hands on my chest and I could feel it beating hard. “I hope I could do this'' I mutter.

Later that night, our dinner arrived and while Jibeom is handling the payment, I fixed our table so we could eat. I hear the door close and I take a seat while I wait for Jibeom to arrive. “Tell me later how much is mine so I could pay you” I say to him.

“No need. This will be my treat as a celebration for you being my roommate as well as our reunion” Jibeom explains while he seats down.

“You didn’t have to do that you know” I say back to him though I’m really grateful that he did. “Wait! I forgot I brought some” I suddenly said then I quickly ran back to my room and opened my luggage taking out a plastic. I come back out and Jibeom is looking at me weirdly.

“Tada!” I shout, showing him the toast inside. Jibeom instantly laughs hard at the sight of the toast. “What?” I ask.

“I thought it was something important. I didn’t think it was bread” he says while still laughing. I go back to my seat sulking a bit to him. “Maybe it’s weird for you but bread is really delicious and my meals are incomplete if I eat without it.” I say to him.

“I’m sorry. But since when did you like eating bread? I remember you not liking it much.” Jibeom says which gave me a reality check.

“Things change when you grow up.” I reply to him. I gotta keep reminding myself that in Jibeom’s eyes, I’m not Jaehyun but Jihyun. “I guess.” Jibeom replies while calming himself from laughing too much.

“Do you really not remember me Jihyun?” Jibeom suddenly seriously asks.

“I really don't. Sorry. I don’t remember much about what happened in middle school since my accident” I explained to him. You could see in Jibeom’s face the disappointment that I couldn’t remember him. I feel sorry for Jibeom because no matter how hard he tries to make me remember, I just can't.

It suddenly occurred to me about how Jibeom didn’t know anything about me. If Jihyun was friends with him, he must have told him about me.

“Did I tell you anything about my family before?” I ask and Jibeom’s face becomes surprised.

“You didn’t. I mean I did ask you but you said that you just didn’t get along with them and you’d rather not talk about it.” Jibeom explains. What does he mean Jihyun didn’t get along with us? I guess it’s true that we didn’t get along but it’s different from our parents. Jihyun was always the good kid while I was the bad one. “But if you want to talk about them now, I’ll be willing to listen” Jibeom added

“No need. Like you said, I didn’t really have gotten along with my family” I replied to him. It’s better if Jibeom didn’t know anything about our family, especially between me and Jihyun. “But you can tell me everything about our friendship,” I added. I have to know everything about this guy and Jihyun so that I could continuously pretend without getting caught.

Jibeom’s face lights up and it looks like he’s ready to tell me everything. I suddenly laughed at him before he could start and it made him so confused. “Why are you suddenly laughing?” he asks.

“I’m sorry but you really can’t hide anything from your face huh.” I replied, making his face instantly red. “Why are you being embarrassed about it?” I ask.

“Nothing…it’s just…you said the same thing when you first talked to me in middle school” He explains while trying to cover his red face with his hand. I could feel my face burning too, just thinking about how Jihyun and I had the same impression of him.

“Really? That’s amazing. What a coincidence, right?” I say adding a few awkward laughs at the end. “Do you still want to tell me about our friendship?” I ask Jibeom tilting my head.

He clears his throat and begins to tell me everything about him and Jihyun starting from the first time they met, to the first time they’ve talked to each other until they finally became friends. Watching Jibeom talk about their relationship, made me realize how much they are so close to each other.

“Why did we stop being friends?” I ask. Jibeom stops looking down like he’s trying to think of a reason.

“I actually don’t know. You just said that you wanted to stop hanging out with me.” He explains. I’m so confused with what he’s telling me. Jihyun isn’t the type of person to leave someone without a purpose, much less abandons his friends. “I actually wanted to ask you more about it the next day but the next thing I knew, you were in an accident and then you suddenly changed school” he added.

Was it my fault that Jihyun wanted to leave Jibeom? No. It can’t be. Though we always fight and all, I never meddled with his friends and school. Then why did Jihyun want to leave Jibeom so suddenly? It just doesn’t make sense. And also the day of his accident is-

“Are you not telling me something?” I ask. Jibeom just blinked a few times before opening his mouth. “Nothing. I told you everything I know. Why do you ask?” he replied.

“It’s just…I know I’m not the type of person that suddenly abandons his friends without a reason.” I explain. Jibeom looked like he wanted to tell me something but stopped. “I’m sorry. I wish I knew about the reason too but I don’t.” he sadly replies

Jibeom stands up cleaning up our used dishes. “Do you have morning classes tomorrow?” he asks while putting the dishes to the sink.

“Yeah. I have” I reply. “Then you can go ahead and rest first. I’ll clean these up” he says while beginning to wash them. I excuse myself so I could wash up and take a good rest before going to school tomorrow. 

As I’m lying down in my bed I hear a knock on the door, “Come in” I say. The door opens and Jibeom comes inside wearing a white fitted shirt and pajama pants with his hair still slightly messy and wet. I don’t why but just looking at him like that made my heart beat like crazy like before. “Do you need anything?” I nervously ask.

“I just want to say that I’m really glad to be next to you again,” he says, giving me a gentle smile.

“I’m really happy too. Goodnight.” I reply. Jibeom looks down for a second before looking at me again. “Goodnight Jihyun'' he says before closing my door. I threw myself on the bed letting out a big sigh. I could still feel my heart beating loud and it looks like it won’t calm down fast. I close my eyes and hopefully wait that it’ll stop so I can fall asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

I slowly wake up with someone shaking my body and calling Jihyun’s name aloud. “Jihyun! Wake up!” I open my eyes and the first thing I see is Jibeom’s face being very close to mine. My mind went blank at the sight of his face and the next thing I know is I’m pushing him away.

“What are you doing in the room?” I ask.

“I’m sorry. But you said you had morning class and you weren’t still up so I thought I should wake you.” He explains. I quickly take my phone to see what time it is and thank goodness there is still an hour before my class starts.

“I already ordered breakfast so you can eat after you wash up” Jibeom added before going out of my room. I get up and went to bathroom to wash up but because you have to go through the dining before it, I saw the food that Jibeom ordered and I smile at the sight of bread.

After I wash up, I quickly eat the breakfast that Jibeom had ordered for me and when I finished I did the courtesy of cleaning up before changing to my clothes. I get out of my room with my bag and as I’m going out I see Jibeom standing by the door.

“Do you have a car?” Jibeom asks.

“I don’t. Since I go to A University, I didn’t think I’d need it” I say. Jibeom grins when he hears that I didn’t have a car.

“I’ll give you a ride. Since A University is also along the way of my university” he says while spinning his car key in his index finger.

“Don’t you want to?” he asks while holding the door open.

“I want to. Thanks Jibeom.” I reply running towards him and putting my arm around his neck. Jibeom locks the door first then we went to the car park to get his car.

“So which one these is your car?” I ask pointing around the sedans. Jibeom laughs at my question like I was making a joke.

“Neither.” He says pointing his car lock forward until we heard the sound of an unlocking car. I look towards the sound and light and I see a 2020 Lexus LC.

“You’re joking?” I ask and Jibeom shakes his head. He opened the passenger door and I was just at awe.

“You’re going in or are you just going to admire my car?” he asks and I go inside in excitement looking and touching everything I could. Jibeom closes the door and comes inside next to the driver seat.

“This is amazing. I’ve always wanted this car.” I say still looking around the car.

“Pretty amazing, right? You better put on your seatbelt.” He says while putting his own and of course I did what he tells me. During the drive, I keep asking Jibeom everything about the car and how he was able to get it. Jibeom happily answers all of my questions and I couldn’t be happier to be able to ride my dream car.

“You’ve really changed Jihyun.” He suddenly says. “You weren’t even interested in cars before but you would still listen to me whenever I talk about it.” He explains

“Is it bad that I have changed this much?” I seriously ask him. Jibeom went quiet for a while and I couldn’t help it but be nervous for his answer.

“Not really. I’m actually having fun with the new you right now” He says giving me a quick glance before looking straight on the road. I felt a sense of relief that Jibeom was actually having fun with me but I quickly cut off my mind and asked why. Why am I feeling happy that Jibeom likes being with me?

I felt the car stopped and I looked outside to see that we had already arrived at my university. I wanted to hang out more with Jibeom and I kinda felt irritated at the fact that my university is really close unlike his. “Thanks for the ride” I say while going out of the car.

“No problem.” He says. “Just tell me if you want a ride. I’ll be willing to drive you.” He added. I close the door and wave him goodbye. I watched him drive away for a second and then proceeded to my class.

During lunch, I wanted to ask Jibeom about his schedule for the day so I would know if I would cook or not but as I was checking my phone, I realized that I still haven’t gotten his number. I let out a big sigh and pressed my forehead on my phone just thinking about how I missed such an opportunity.

“That’s a big sigh for the first day” I hear someone say. I look up and I see Youngtaek with a small person whom I have never met before. “Oh. Jaehyun this is Seungmin” Yountaek introduced pointing his hand to the little guy. “And Seungmin, this is Jaehyun,” he added pointing towards me.

“Hey Seungmin. I’m Jaehyun. Youngtaek’s friend since middle school” I say reaching out my hand.  
Seungmin smiles and takes my hand for a handshake. “Hi Jaehyun. I’m Seungmin. Yountaek and I have been friends since high school” He says.

“Seungmin is the one who helped me find an apartment to live in,” Youngtaek says as he was sitting down.

“Really? Thank you Seungmin. The place was really great.” I say to Seungmin

“You don’t really have to. You should be really thankful for your roommate because he agreed to have you in.” Seungmin replies.

“Speaking of roommate, how is he?” he asks

“He’s really great. Though he says that he doesn’t know how to cook, overall I think he’s not a bad roommate” I explain to them and Youngtaek smiles like a weirdo.

“Plus he gave you a ride on your dream car,” Youngtaek added.

“How did you know that?” I ask him because I never saw him this morning.

“I saw you. But I thought it's better if I surprise you later so I didn’t say anything” he explains and starts to eat his food.

“Ohh...speaking of roommates. I believe you owe me lunch.” I say looking at Youngtaek with a ‘You know what I’m talking about’ face and he awkwardly laughs and excuses himself to buy me lunch.

“Youngtaek told me how you were friends with him since middle school.” Seungmin says.

“Yeah. We were known as the troublemakers though.” I say laughing while I remember our memories.

“Aren’t you mad that Youngtaek didn’t tell you about having a new friend?” Seungmin asked and I smiled at him.

“I actually told him to forget our friendship and that he should find a new friend but he just scolded me off saying he wouldn’t do such a thing. So in the end we kept in contact but still keeping some private matters to ourselves. I also had friends in the States that I didn’t tell him and he’s also fine with it. That’s why I’m not mad at him. In fact, I’m really happy that he found another friend.” I explained and Seungmin looked relieved.

Youngtaek comes back with my food and the three of us continued to talk telling each other’s story mostly about our lives with Youngtaek and it's funny how he feels so embarrassed hearing his stories with us as well as his nicknames that we gave him like chick, ostrich and the most recent one is insect. Although Youngtaek and Seungmin are a year older than I am, I feel really close with them.

Later that day, I came home to the apartment and I looked around in the kitchen and saw that Jibeom posted his schedule on the fridge. I get a piece of paper from my bag and a ballpen, writing my own schedule and sticking it next to his. I look at his schedule and he mostly comes home late except for Tuesday and Friday but then I noticed that his class today doesn’t start until 10.  
I can’t believe he went to school early just so he could take me to my university with his car. I couldn’t help it but laugh that he sacrificed sleeping more just so he could let me see his car. I then hear the door opening and soon he comes inside.

“Oh Jaehyun. I didn’t know you were already home.” He says.

“Yeah. I just got home a little while ago.” I say back.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I could have picked you up.” Jibeom says.

“I don’t have your number though.” I replied and Jibeom’s face went red.

“I didn’t give it to you yet? I’m sorry.” He says looking down and I chuckle.

“It’s alright.” I say. “Then can I have your number now?” I asked and he said yes. He takes my phone, typing his number and then giving it back to me. I quickly gave him a call so he could save mine.

“Oh yeah I still have to buy some essentials and some other things for school.” I tell Jibeom. “My things from the States still haven’t arrived and there are some things that I need now so I have to buy them instead.” I explain.

“I’ll join you. I also need to buy more food since there’s two of us now.” He said and I agreed.

We went to the convenience store first then to a bookstore before going to the supermarket. We bought a lot of vegetables and meat, especially eggplants and pork. There were times where Jibeom would get something that he remembers Jihyun likes such as chocolate and sprite and I would just act being happy though I don’t really like them. I have also found out that Jibeom and I are very much alike when it comes to prefered food.

Since we were already outside, Jibeom suggested that we should have dinner before going back home. I agreed and suggested eating some fried chicken which Jibeom quickly agreed. When we got back home, Jibeom prepared the things we bought from the supermarket to the kitchen while I went to my room so I could prepare the things I bought from the convenience store and bookstore.

I got out but Jibeom wasn’t in the kitchen anymore and I thought that maybe he’s already washing up in his room. I proceeded to the bathroom so I could wash up but when I finished I still didn’t see him. I knocked on his door a few times but he still didn’t answer so I waited a bit before knocking again.

Jibeom then opens his door wearing nothing except his pants while drying his hair with his towel making my heart skip a beat. I never noticed it but this guy is really fit, especially his arms. Jibeom looks at me and he asked if I needed something.

“Sorry. I was just checking if you’re fine and all.” I say while slowly looking down.

“Um..I’m fine as you can see.” He replies slightly laughing. “Oh yeah. Since both of us don’t have late classes on friday, do you want me to teach you to cook then?” He asks.

“Yes. I’ll keep that day free so please teach me.” I say and Jibeom laughs again. He reaches out his hand, ruffling my hair while saying that I should probably rest since we did walk around a lot. I felt embarrassed and I quickly pulled away saying thanks then running back to my room.

I wondered what is this feeling that I have? Why does my heart always skip a beat whenever I see him or when he’s being gentle and kind to me? I guess I’m just not used to someone being so gentle with me that is why I’m feeling like this. I have to remember that I’m pretending as Jihyun and Jibeom is only being kind to me because he thinks that I’m his friend from middle school.

Although I said those to myself, I still got excited that Jibeom is going to teach me on Friday. Like I promised, I kept my Friday free even though Youngtaek and Seungmin wanted to celebrate my coming back. I went home as quickly as possible hoping that I wouldn’t make Jibeom wait. However, when I got home Jibeom wasn’t still home and his classes won’t end in about thirty minutes.

“I’m way too excited” I say. I decided to rest and watch some TV while I wait for him to return. Minutes later, I hear the door open and I greet him by the door.

“Hey. Did you just get home?” He asks.

“No. I came home about an hour ago.” I replied, helping him go inside.

“Let me change my clothes first and then we can start cooking.” He said and I waited for him in the kitchen. Jibeom came out and he told me that we’ll be making instant pot korean beef. He told me the ingredients and said that I should prepare them first.

I did what he told me and while I prepared the ingredients, Jibeom started to cook the rice. When I finished, he told me to cut the beef into small bite-sized pieces and to mince the garlic. Jibeom said that he’ll prepare the side dishes while I’m cutting.

I tried my best to cut the beef perfectly but since I have never held a knife before I’m having a bit of trouble. Jibeom noticed that and he showed me the proper way of holding a knife and I followed. With him teaching me the proper way, cutting the meat was easier and I started to cut at ease.

“Ouch!” I shouted. I didn’t notice that I moved my finger close to where I was going to cut and instead of the meat, I cutted myself.

“What happened?” Jibeom asked and when he saw my bleeding finger he told me to quickly rinse it in water while he gets a first aid kit. I did what he told me and I rinsed my finger watching the blood slowly go out.  
Jibeom comes back with the first aid kit and he wraps my finger with a cloth first and tells me to go to the table. I went to the table and he took out a disinfectant spray.

“This is going to hurt a bit.” He says before spraying all over my finger. Like he said, it hurted so much but I tried to endure it. After, he put the bandage to my finger, making sure that it was secured. “All good. Thank goodness the cut wasn’t too big. I’ll continue to cut and you can just watch me.” He says, putting away the kit.

“No. I still want to help. Also cutting your finger is also part of the experience so I’m fine. I’ll just be more careful.” I said to him and Jibeom looked so worried but I begged and he agreed.

We went back to the kitchen and I started to cut again and this time I didn’t make any more mistakes. Jibeom showed me how to cook the pot korean beef and I made sure that I will be able to remember how. When we finished, he told me to prepare the table and to get the side dishes as well. While I was preparing, Jibeom takes two plates, placing a cup of rice in each then pouring the beef.

“It looks delicious.” I say taking the plate off his hand and placing them to the table. I think it was because we cooked it together but to me it was the best meal that I have ever had. I kept on eating and I didn’t even realize that Jibeom was watching me until he laughed.

“I’m sorry but I’ve never seen you look so happy while eating. It’s pretty cute.” He said.

“Shut up. I should be happy since this is the first meal that I have created.” I reply, pouting my lips.

“I know. I’m happy to see you eat so happily with the meal that we cooked together.” Jibeom said, smiling and proceeded to eat his food.

It was a good thing that he began to eat because I have no idea what kind of face I’m making after he said that. After I calmed down, I continued to eat and finish my meal. I told Jibeom that I’ll be the one who will clean up since he did most of the cooking. Jibeom disagreed but I still kept my word until he gave in.

We continued to cook every Friday and sometimes on the weekends too if we don’t have any plans. I learned to cook a lot of meals from Jibeom such as kimchi fried rice, pan-fried fish, bbq chicken wings, and more. He also taught me foreign meals like cream pasta which I found out that we both like rather than tomato pasta.

Weeks later, I thought that maybe I can cook something for him in return for driving me to and from school and also for teaching me how to cook this past few weeks but I don’t even know what kind of food he likes. I then remember him saying that he liked eggplants too so maybe I can cook some Gaji-namul.

I keep looking at my phone trying to remember the ingredients and the procedure that I didn’t realize that Youngtaek was walking beside me already.

“Ohhh...that looks delicious” He says, making me startled.

“Don’t talk to me suddenly like that!” I shouted but he just laughed.

“Sorry but you looked so serious reading that. I guess you’ve taken a liking to your roommate, huh?” He asked and I looked down.

“Not really. I’m still looking for an apartment before I can move out.” I explained and Youngtaek looked surprised.

“Move out? But why? I mean you look like you’re getting along with your roommate just fine.” He asks.

“I am but I originally didn’t want any roommates. That’s why I’m only going to be his friend until I can find another place.” I explain. The moment I find another apartment, I can finally tell Jibeom the truth and the moment I tell him, I know he’s going to be mad at me. Youngtaek didn’t ask me anymore as we parted ways. I came home and changed my clothes first before going to the kitchen.

I first prepared the ingredients then proceeded to washing the vegetables, especially the eggplants. Afterwards, I started to cut the vegetables, although I still cutted my fingers a few times despite Jibeom’s teaching. After cutting them I began to cook the dish and the rice.

Almost an hour later, I finished cooking and preparing the other dishes so I decided to wait for him to come home so that we could eat dinner at the same time. After a while, I look at the clock and it's already past 1 hour of the time that he should return home. I was getting kind of hungry so despite wanting to eat together, I decided to eat my share while I tried to preserve Jibeom’s. I took a bath then sat in front of his meal playing with my phone as I waited for him to come home.

“Jihyun…Jihyun.” I could feel a familiar hand on my shoulder rocking me until I wake up. I didn’t even realize that I had fallen asleep while waiting for him. “Sorry. Did you actually wait for me to come home?” Jibeom asks. I rub my eyes and nod to answer his question. I looked at my phone to see the time and it was already past midnight.

“I thought I should return the favor for driving me to university and for teaching me how to cook so I cooked for you today. I thought that maybe we could eat it together but you still weren’t home and I started to get hungry so I ate first.” I explain. Jibeom looked so happy yet at the same time guilty that he didn’t come home early today.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. My friends suddenly decided to hang out today.” Jibeom says.

“Is that so…well I guess I better put this away then.” I say standing up but when I was about to take the bowl Jibeom stopped me.

“Stop! Don’t put it away. I’ll eat it” he says taking the bowl from my hand and going to the kitchen so he could reheat it. “Since you took all the trouble to cook for me, it would be rude if I don’t eat it.” He added while watching the microwave.

“But you already ate. You don’t have to force yourself to eat it.” I say to him.

“I’m not. I also want to try your cooking since this is the first time you have cooked for me.” He says taking the hot bowl out of the microwave and quickly putting it back on the table. “It smells good Jihyun,” he added.

Jibeom takes a spoonful and blows it a little before eating the Gaji-namul. I focused on his face to see if his reaction would be good or bad. Jibeom’s eyes widened and his mouth quickly went into a smile. “It’s really delicious. You’re becoming a great cook” he says looking up to me.

Jibeom continues to eat the food that I made and I couldn’t be happier that he really liked it. I took a seat again then resting my head on my arms so I could still watch him eat. Jibeom noticed that I was still there watching him and he suddenly got embarrassed.

“You should head to bed first. I’ll clean this up after I’m done” he worriedly says.

“I have afternoon classes tomorrow so it’s okay if I stayed late tonight.” I reply and he just quietly starts to eat. I didn’t know how long I was watching him because the next thing I knew, I had already fallen asleep.

The next day, I found out that Jibeom had actually carried me to my bed after I had fallen asleep on the table. It was kind of awkward after knowing that but soon the awkwardness fades away.


	3. Chapter 3

Living with Jibeom became fun and interesting especially with him being naturally funny. I have also found out that Jibeom is really no good with cleaning even with his clothes but I never scolded him since I’m the same. There were times when he likes to tease me and we slightly fight though we always make up at the end of the day. It made me feel sad everytime I had to look for apartments but I kept in mind that I’m just pretending to be Jihyun.

One thing that I’m still not used to is how Jibeom is very sweet and caring towards me. Almost every time my heart skips a beat whenever he does something close to me like fixing my hair, patting my head or when he always wakes me up when I have morning classes.

“Eh? You can’t come today?” I hear Jibeom ask on the phone and I look back at him from the couch. “I see. It can’t be helped so I understand. Yes. Please take care.” He says before hanging up.

“What happened?” I ask.

“The cleaning lady won’t come today. She said that she’s sick.” Jibeom explains.

“What? So does it mean that…” I look around seeing all the mess that we made for the past week. “We have to clean the apartment by ourselves today…” I finished my sentence.

“It looks like it.” Jibeom says and the room went silent. None of us liked cleaning and it shows because within a week, we can turn this beautiful apartment into a complete mess.

“Where do we even start?” I ask, letting out a big sigh.

“I’ll clean the living room and maybe you could clean the bathroom.” Jibeom said and I agreed since I’m mostly the one using the bathroom.

I cleaned the bathroom, making sure that no dirt will be left behind. I washed the floor and even the walls, cleaning them with soap and then washing them again. The door opened and Jibeom came inside.

“Hey. Do you need any help? I finished cleaning the living room.” He asked.

“No need. I’m almost done anyway.” I answered facing him but he suddenly turned away. I wondered why until I looked down to see that I’m completely soaked in water and that my clothes become see through.

“Yeah. I’ll be going out now.” He said, hurriedly walking out while I tried to cover myself. Wait. Why am I getting embarrassed though? We’re both guys so it’s perfectly normal to see each other's bodies, right?

I came out of the bathroom and I didn’t see Jibeom anywhere so I knocked on his door. Jibeom replied saying come in and I did but the sight of his room made me unable to move. It was a complete mess! I know my room is messy but this is on another level.

“You...what happened with your room?” I asked and I tried to look for him until I saw him on his bed.

“This is just normal.” He replied.

“This is not normal! You know what, since we already started to clean, we should also clean our rooms and we’ll start with yours.” I tell him, making him finally stand up from his bed.

“What? No way. I’m fine like this.” He said but I still persisted that we should clean. I didn’t listen to any of his complaints and I just started to pick up the trash that was on the floor and even the clothes. “Where is your basket?” I ask and he hesitantly pointed to the side of his closet.

“I never bothered to ask why I never see you washing your clothes and now I could finally see why.” I blurted. It’s no wonder why there were some clothes on the floor because his basket is already a mountain of used clothes. I look at Jibeom but he looks away from being embarrassed to have his room be seen like this. “If you’re embarrassed then please try to clean a bit.” I say to him.

“I’m gonna do the laundry so start cleaning your room. I’ll check once I’m done so no slacking.” I tell him, carrying his dirty laundry out of his room and into our laundry room. While doing the laundry, I keep going back and forth to his room to check if he’s cleaning and there were times where he tried to slack off.

After I finished washing the laundry, I came back to his room and I found him just sitting doing nothing. His room isn’t even half finished yet he’s already slacking off again.

“You should really stop slacking off.” I tell him and he turns around.

“I’m not. I’m just looking at my stuff.” He said. I walked over to him to see what he was looking at and it was a picture book. I looked closer to see the pictures and all of them are photos of Jibeom and Jihyun.

“That’s…” I say and Jibeom smiled.

“Yeah. Our photos during middle school.” I sat next to him while still looking at the photos. Both of them looked so happy together and it just made me more confused as to what really happened to them. “You’ve really changed.” He suddenly said.

“You used to look so pure and cute but now you’ve become much cooler. You even started to dye your hair and wear piercings.” He says. Jihyun and I are the complete opposite of each other. He likes following the rules while I like doing the extremes.

“I wanted to change a bit in high school so I started getting piercings and dyeing my hair.” I explain.

“Don’t worry. It looks good on you.” He says ruffling my head, making my heart skip a beat again.

“We talked too much. Let’s finish cleaning your room so I could clean mine too.” I said standing up and Jibeom laughs.

With the two of us cleaning his room, the work became much easier and we managed to clean fast. There were times where I kept telling Jibeom to throw away the things that he doesn’t use anymore but he said that he’ll keep them for now. When I saw that only a few things needed to be done, I excused myself so I could start cleaning my own room. Jibeom said that after he’s finished, he’ll help me too. I told him no need because if I let him inside my room, he’ll definitely find out that I’m not Jihyun.

“You can just take the laundry.” I told him and he said okay.

My room is also messy but it’s not as messy as Jibeom’s so there wasn’t really much work to do. Just an hour of cleaning I was already done and Jibeom knocked saying that he finished ironing and folding the laundry. I said thanks, taking my clothes from him and putting them on my closet.

I come out of my room, throwing myself on the couch and stretching my head back. Doing all that work made me hungry but I’m already tired of making any food.

“Hey Jibeom! Do you want to eat out today?” I ask.

“Yeah. I’m pretty much tired of cooking any food today.” He replies. We washed up first before going out and I’ve never been so happy to be out of the house.

“Where should we eat?” I ask while we walk around.

“I don’t know. Let’s just find something that catches our eyes.” He replied.

“Yo Jibeom!” Someone shouts and we look back to see a group of people.

“Oh Joochan.” Jibeom replies, going to the blond guy and giving him a hug.

“Who’s that?” The shortest guy asked, pointing to me.

“Wait! Let me guess? Ji..Je...no...Jaehyun, right?” The blond guy says and my whole body freezes.

“Close enough. This is Jihyun.” Jibeom introduced me, making me feel a bit relaxed as I said hello to them.

“So he’s the friend that you were talking about in high school?” The tallest guy asked.

“He is. Jihyun, these guys are my friends. This one is Bomin. He’s my junior in high school.” He says pointing to the tall guy. “This is Donghyun.” He says pointing to the shortest guy. “And this is Joochan.” He says pointing to the blond guy. “Joochan is also the one who asked if I wanted to have a roommate.” He added. So he’s the guy that caused all of this misunderstanding.

“Are you guys going out to eat?” Joochan asked and Jibeom said yes.

“Then do you want to join us?” Bomin asked. Jibeom must have realized that I might feel left out because he rejected Bomin’s invitation.

“You guys go ahead. We’ll be fine.” Jibeom says.

“But we’re having chicken.” Joochan says.

“Hah? I thought we’re having beef?” Donghyun asked Joochan.

“We’re having chicken.” Joochan says again.

“No way. We planned earlier that we’ll have beef.” Donghyun replied.

I watched as the two of them started to bicker while Bomin and Jibeom tried to calm them down. Honestly it was so funny because people started to look at us and I couldn’t help but laugh at them. My laugh made them stop bickering with each other and all of them just looked at me.

“I’m sorry but you guys looked so childish while bickering like that.” I say.

“Don’t worry about them. They’re always like that.” Jibeom says and I tell him that I don’t really mind. Jibeom told them to go away already if they want to continue to fight. They bid us goodbye before leaving while still bickering about the food they want to eat.

“Sorry about that” Jibeom said being embarrassed for his friends.

“No worries. Even my friends can be like that.” I tell him patting his back.

We continued to walk around until we saw a noodle restaurant and we decided that we’ll eat there. While eating, Jibeom and I kept on talking about our friends but it was mostly him who’s talking. I honestly loved watching Jibeom talk so happily and for once I thought that maybe being with him might actually be nice.

“Looks like someone had a great weekend.” Youngtaek teases me.

“I don’t know what you mean.” I say, ignoring him.

“Youngtaek stop teasing him like that.” Seungmin says.

Youngtaek didn’t listen and kept on teasing me just because I hummed early in the morning. I looked straight while going down the stairs, ignoring them until we reached outside the building.

“Come on Jaehyun. Can’t you tell us what made you so happy?” Youngtaek asks.

“We just hung out. Nothing special happened.” I reply.

“Cheeky. Can’t you even tell us that?” Youngtaek begged, showing a puppy face.

“Stop it Youngtaek.” Seungmin says, pulling him away from me. I chuckled at the sight of them and I remembered Joochan and Donghyun.

“Youngtaek. How did you get the apartment again for me?” I asked him and they looked at me.

“I got a friend that helped Youngtaek.” Seungmin says.

“Who?” I ask again.

“His name is Joochan. Why do you ask?” He says.

“Nothing. It’s just that I met Jibeom’s friends. One of them said that he’s the one that helped me find an apartment. I think his name is really Joochan.” I explain.

“That’s him. They’re my friends and we've known each other since we were kids.” Seungmin explains and in a moment Youngtaek sulked. Youngtaek suddenly excused himself and Seungmin said sorry, following him.

“But I thought we will go out today?” I asked myself while I watched them go away.

I went back home and Jibeom was surprised to see me. I told him that my friends left me for unknown reasons and that I was forced to go back home instead. He asked me if I wanted to do something and I remembered that my things from the States already arrived.

“I have some games. Do you want to play with me?” I asked and Jibeom said yes.

I take out my games from my room and Jibeom and I play together for hours. We even ordered dinner so we could continue playing. We played many games tallying our wins and of course not one us wanted to lose.

“No way! You cheated!” Jibeom says while I laugh.

“I’m not. You’re just not good.” I tell him.

“You’re a cheater. Stop lying to me.” Jibeom begins to tickle me and I laugh telling him to stop. “I won’t until you say you cheated.” He says.

“Jibeom stop it! I swear I didn’t” I say but he still didn’t stop until I gave in. “Okay okay. I give up. I cheated.” I finally said and he stopped, laughing on top of me. I looked at him and he looked so cute laughing like that but him being on top of me made my heart beat loud and fast.

“Look at the time. It’s already late so we should head to bed.” I say standing up and leaving. He said goodnight and I said it back to him.

The next day, Seungmin and Youngtaek said sorry for leaving me behind yesterday but I told them that it was fine. Jibeom and I continued to hang out but I tried my best to keep a distance little by little in order to calm my heart and to not make things more painful when I leave. But even though I did that, Jibeom always does his best to get closer to me.

“Jihyun. Can you help me?” I hear Jibeom say as he comes out of his room.

“Sure. What is it?” I turn around from the couch and I see him without any shirt on while holding two or more shirts with his hands.

“Hello? Jihyun?” Jibeom says waving his hand making me snap back to reality.

“I’m sorry…what do you need help for?” I say looking away from being embarrassed that I was looking at him for too long.

“Can you help me pick up a top? My friend invited me to his girlfriend’s birthday party and he said that I should wear something nice.” He explains again…I think. I stood up and looked at all the shirts that he was holding and I couldn’t believe my eyes how tacky they were.

“These aren’t good. Do you have anything else?” I ask.

“I think these are my best but you can check my closet if you want.” He says and I quickly run to his room. I wasn’t surprised when I saw his room being a mess as this isn’t something new for me. I tried my best to look away from his room and go straight to his closet. I scanned through every shirt he has and I couldn’t believe that almost everything is tacky and striped.

“You’re kidding me? Are you sure this is every shirt you have?” I ask him.

“That’s everything except for the ones that aren’t clean.” He replies. I look back to his closet then to him and it made me think how this guy despite having a handsome face has no fashion sense.

“What time is the party?” I ask him.

“Around 7. Why?” he replies.

“Just pick any of the shirts you have and wait for me. We’re going to buy you some new clothes. Everything you have is a no go.” I reply to him. Jibeom said ok and as I’m trying my best to come out of his room alive I still didn’t see a bottle on the floor and I accidentally stepped on it causing myself to fall.

I closed my eyes and ready myself for the pain but instead of feeling pain I felt arms suddenly being wrapped around me. I slowly open my eyes and Jibeom’s face is just a few inches away from mine. I didn’t know how long we we’re staring at each other’s faces but I think it was long enough for me to look at his every facial feature.

His deep black eyes seem to pierce through mine, making me drawn to him. My heart is beating fast right now and my mind is going blank. I keep staring at his thin but full lips and thinking at how they would feel pressed against mine. Slowly, I move my head closer tilting it and as my lips finally brush against his, Jibeom quickly pushes me away. I realized what I was about to do and I instantly felt embarrassed.

“I’m going to change now. Sorry.” I say hurriedly leaving his room. I run to my room and I close the door leaning down against it burying my head. Why did I suddenly think of kissing him? My heart still won’t stop pounding and my head is still filled with his face. I let out a big sigh hoping it would calm me but no matter how many times I did it, it still won’t. I have to move out as soon as possible or else this is going to become more painful.

After a few minutes, I have finally calmed down. I stood up and I changed my clothes as quickly as possible to make up the time. I came out after and I didn’t find Jibeom around. ‘Is he still in his room?’ I thought to myself. I gave his door a knock while calling out his name but I still didn’t get any response. He wouldn’t actually leave after that, right? I continued to knock on his door but this time it’s much faster and harder. The door finally opens and Jibeom comes out looking shy and awkward.

“Hey. Sorry I took so long to get out.” He explains though he’s not looking at me.

“It’s alright…sorry I also took long.” I replied and I could feel a very awkward aura around us. I couldn’t look at him either because how could I? I cleared my throat and told him that we should get going if we want to actually get good clothes. He quickly agreed and we went straight to his car getting in ourselves.

Our usual drive is full of laughter but this time it was feeling really dark and weird. None of us want to look at each other let alone talk and I have never been this quiet in a ride before unless I’m with my family. Eventually, we arrived at the mall without me noticing because I kept thinking of how I’m going to explain what I almost did earlier.

We get out of the car silently walking around the mall. I tried my best to focus on finding a good shop to buy his clothes but the awkwardness plus the stare of almost every lady walking past us are not helping at all. While walking I see a black shirt hanging inside the shop.

“Here!” I shouted, grabbing Jibeom’s wrist and pulling him to the shop. I took the shirt and I looked around to see anything that matches it until I saw a black and white printed coat. I take it and give them to Jibeom and the guy looks so confused.

“Try these on first. I’m going to look for more.” I say pushing him to the fitting room. Jibeom quietly follows and while he’s trying it on, I look around more and I take whatever clothes I see that will fit him.

Jibeom comes out with the clothes that I gave him before and I swear the guy never looked more handsome and mature. I could still see Jibeom being shy around me but I think the stare of the sales lady is making it worse.

“Now try these on. I have arranged how they’re supposed to look.” I say giving him the clothes that I took from the racks and shelves.

“You can’t be serious? Aren’t these a lot?” he asks.

“Just try them on please. It won’t hurt you to try them on.” I replied, making Jibeom let out a sigh.

“I didn’t think you’d be a person that cares for fashion.” He says letting out a few laughs but still went back to the fitting room.

“Oh! Don’t forget to bring back the clothes you’ve tried!” I shout to him.

Jibeom kept going in and out of the fitting room and I honestly lost count how many times he did. I do admit that every time he comes out, he keeps getting better and better and my heart never misses to skip a beat. I give all the clothes he has tried to a sales lady telling her to put it on the counter as I’m going to buy all of them.

“Jaehyun, these clothes will be the last okay?” I hear Jibeom say and I tell him ok. Jibeom comes out wearing black coat with a white striped design on the inner, a white turtleneck shirt underneath and black slacks. I swear that he looked way much better than before.

“Wait there a minute.” I said to him and I hurriedly ran towards the jewelry section taking a silver necklace and a silver ring bracelet.

“Wear these too.” I say again to him helping him wear the jewelry and then messing his hair a bit, showing his forehead.I step back, checking to see if his look is perfect.

“You look amazing” was all that I could say to him. You could hear the sales lady giggling and talking about how he’s so handsome.

“Should I wear these today?” Jibeom asks I quickly told him yes making him laugh at how fast I replied. We went to counter and I told the cashier to punch even the things he wears. The cashier did so with the help of a sales lady and after a few minutes the cashier told me my total making Jibeom shocked.

“That much? With just these?” Jibeom asks pointing to his clothes and jewelry.

“Don’t be stupid. I also bought the other ones you’ve tried” I reply pointing to the bags.

“You didn’t have to buy them too. Just what I’m wearing is enough” he says.

“No way am I going to let you wear tacky clothes for a whole week. At Least try to dress properly once a week. Also try to consider these as my early gifts for your birthday and Christmas” I explain to Jibeom and continue to pay for the clothes.  
I was about to take the bags but the Jibeom stopped me. He told the cashier that we’ll take them later and he takes my wrist and pulls me out of the shop.

“Wait. Why are we going out without taking the clothes?” I ask him.

“There’s still time before the party and as my repayment for the clothes, we’ll hang out and I’ll pay for it.” He explains. “So whatever you want to do here, we’ll do it,” he added.

“Then let’s go to the arcade first. I want to shoot some balls.” I tell him hesitantly.

“You played basketball?” he asks, surprised at what I firstly requested. I almost told him that I played since middle school but then I remember that Jihyun never did.

“Yeah. During high school I tried it and I had fun.” I tell him.

“Oh…then let’s go.” He said and I excitedly said thanks to him as we walked towards the arcade. Though I want to say that it was just a quiet walk, I couldn’t help but notice that every girl in this mall is now looking at us though mostly it’s on Jibeom.

When we arrived at the arcade, the scenario didn’t change with having almost everyone watch us. Jibeom must have noticed how I became conscious of the stares because he suddenly whispered to me saying that I should just focus on him. It made me blush when he said that and I heard him say ‘cute’ silently making it redder badly.

Thank goodness the sound of balls being thrown to the hoops calmed me down a bit and I quickly ran towards the sound. I was about to play but then I realized that I still haven’t bought the tokens. I hear Jibeom laughing from afar and I look at him with him having tokens on his hands.

“I knew you forgot about the tokens,” he says, giving me one.

“I got excited” I say taking the coin and putting it inside the machine. I quickly forgot all my worries as I continued to play with the machine. Jibeom also joined after watching me play first. We also made a bet on who could shoot more points and it’s no wonder that I won.

After playing basketball we played more games at arcade like shooting, crane, and more until we got hungry. Jibeom told me that there was a bakery on the ground floor and we went there to eat lunch. Despite him not being much of a bread fan, he still decided to eat there because he knew that I would want to which made me happy.

When we finished eating, I told Jibeom that I wanted to watch a movie and we did so by picking out a scary movie. Throughout the movie, I kept getting scared and Jibeom kept laughing at me every single time. We got out of the theatre and Jibeom still teased me for being such a scared cat when I was the one that chose the movie. I just tried to brush away all his teasing and told him that I wanted to buy some new piercings.

Jibeom stops and I could feel him staring at my left ear where I had 2 piercings on my lobe. He then reaches out his hand caressing my ear making me flinch.

“Did it hurt when you did them?” he seriously asks.

“At first but now they’re much better I tell him while moving away.” I explain

“I see.” Jibeom mutters.

“Shall we go?” I asked him and Jibeom nodded.

As I’m looking through the piercings, Jibeom realized that he still hasn’t bought any gift for the birthday celebrant and I laugh at him for forgetting such an important thing. I told him that I’m just going to buy the piercings and then we could both look for a gift for her. I saw a blue gemmed earring and I decided to buy them.

We went through multiple shops to see anything that she would like and in the end we decided to buy her makeup instead to play safe. While looking through the make-up, I happened to hear two girls talking about us.

“Don’t they look like they’re on a date though?” The girl quietly tells her friend.

Date? Does it look like we’re on a date? I look at Jibeom who’s seriously trying to pick a good shade of lip tint. I tried to remember all the things we did today and all of them could be classified as a date.

“The guy wearing the black coat with a white shirt really looks handsome though. If he asks me to be his girlfriend for even just a day, I would accept it” The other girl replies and her friend agrees.

“Girlfriend huh?” I mutter then I start to imagine Jibeom all the things we did with a girl. A sudden sting appears in my heart and I really hated the idea of Jibeom being with a girl doing all the fun things that we did.

“Hey Jihyun. Are you okay?” Jibeom worriedly asks.

“I’m fine. Did you find anything?” I replied and Jibeom showed me 3 lip tints that he picked. I told him that I’m going to wait for him outside while he pays for it and he agrees.

While waiting for him, I kept on imagining him with a girl and I hated the idea of it. I look back again on the shop and you can clearly see that all eyes are on him. After a few minutes, Jibeom comes out. He asked me what else I wanted to do but I told him that I’ve done everything I want and I’m ready to go home.

Jibeom agrees and we went back to the clothing store to get his clothes. Jibeom drives me back to the apartment and tells me that he’s going straight to the party. I nodded taking all of the shopping bags from the back seat and leave. Inside the apartment, I putted all the shopping bag to his room before going to mine. I throw myself on the bed thinking how I ruined my mood just by imagining Jibeom with another girl. I made it even worse when I tried to imagine him having fun with multiple girls at the party.

“What is wrong with me?” I ask myself, burying my face on the pillows.


	4. Chapter 4

It was great that Jibeom got home late yesterday because I didn’t want to face him at the moment. I tried my best to get out of the apartment as quiet as possible as I could and thankfully it worked.

“You’re awfully quiet this time.” Youngtaek says but I just ignored him.

“Did you have a fight with Jibeom?” Seungmin asks and I lift my head just by hearing his name.

“Why did you think I fought with Jibeom? Just because I’m not saying anything, doesn’t mean I fought with him.” I reply. Seungmin and Yountaek looked at each for a second before looking back at me.

“You still haven’t realized it?” Seungmin asks again.

“Realize what?” I ask back confused at what they want to imply.

“That all you ever talk about is Jibeom. I never met the guy but I know more about him than I should.” Youngtaek replies. Have I been talking about him that much?

“You’re joking. I didn’t talk to him that much.” I say.

“Really? Then how come I know that both of you like eggplants, that you both like adding egg on ramyeon and that both of you like soft-boiled egg than a hard boiled one. I also know that he wakes you up every morning and that he teaches you how to cook every Tuesday now and that you always hangout every Saturday at your apartment because you prefer to be home than going out. I also know his 2 friends that go to his university and that he knew them back in high school and that he has a junior friend too. If you hadn’t been talking about him then I wouldn’t know that much.” Youngtaek replies back.

Have I really been talking about Jibeom that much? I mean I do live with the guy and that I go out with him most of the time but I never realized that I would talk so much about him.

“So did you guys fight?” Seungmin asks again.

“We didn’t but…” I reply.

“But what?” Youngtaek asks.

“But…I just didn’t want to see him today and I feel really weird when I’m with him.” I hesitantly replied.

“How weird?” Seungmin asks.

“Like…I’m really having fun when I’m with him but recently my heart keeps beating fast when I’m closer and yesterday we hung out but then I started to imagine him being with a girl and I kind of got depressed about it and…it’s just been weird for me.” I explain making Seungmin laugh. “Is there something funny with what I said?” I ask.

“There’s nothing funny about it but I don’t think what you’re feeling is weird. I just think you like Jibeom.” He replies.

Me? I like Jibeom? Like…wanting to be with him? It’s true that I like having him around and that I’m excited every time I come home but it only means that I just like his presence and that we get along well. I suddenly remember the time when we almost kissed and how I wanted it and my heart starts to beat fast again and now my mind is suddenly filled with his face.

“You definitely like him. You’re red as a tomato now.” Youngtaek says and I touch my face and could feel it being a bit hot.

“Don’t joke like that. We’re both guys. There’s no way I could like a guy.” I reply adding a bit of laughter. I look at them both and Youngtaek looks away while Seungmin looks at me seriously.

“There’s nothing wrong with liking a person that has the same sex as you. If you like him then you like him. Don’t use you’re sex as an excuse.” Seungmin explains.

Both of them cheered me on by telling me to just listen to my heart rather than my head to figure out if I truly like Jibeom. I did what they told me and every time my heart beats like crazy that sometimes it hurts. With me thinking about Jibeom, my heart and stomach are going crazy just seeing him and all I could do was avoid him. A week passes by and I’m surprised at myself at how many excuses I made up just so I could avoid seeing him. I also used the time avoiding him trying to look for other apartments that I can move so I can quickly end this pain.

I come home tired but because I’m avoiding Jibeom I have to move around the house as quietly as possible. I hated the fact that my room is at the far end meaning I have to walk all over the house before I can go to my safe space. I walk to my room while looking at the new apartments that I found on my phone.

“Welcome home.” I heard someone say and I turned around to see Jibeom standing by his door with his arms crossed. “We need to talk” he says.

“I’m really busy so can we talk next time?” I say to him turning away so I can go inside my room. Jibeom then follows me and in an instant he tries to grab my hand and I slap his hand. “Don’t touch me!” I shouted and Jibeom looked so hurt. He looked down and I saw his eyes widened and I realized that he must have seen my phone.

“I knew it. You think I’m disgusting.” He says and I have no idea what he’s saying. “I thought I hid my feelings perfectly but it looks like I failed. This feels exactly the same as before.” He softly says.

“What are you talking about?” I ask him. Jibeom lets out a big sigh and he looks like he wants to tell me something but he’s hesitant. “Do you know something that I don’t?” I ask again.

“I…I still like you Jihyun. I thought I threw away my feelings but everything came back now that we’re hanging out together again. Then…you started getting close again to me and I thought that you’re starting to like me again but I was still scared. So I didn’t plan on telling you yet but ever since I almost kissed you, you’ve been avoiding me and now you’re even looking at apartments but…I…I don’t want to lose you again.” Jibeom explains putting his head on his palms.

“Still? Lose me again?” I ask him again.

“Before you lost your memories, you and I were…dating.” He hesitantly replies. 

No way. Jihyun and Jibeom were dating before…no. That means Jihyun is gay? My mind is having so much information and I’m getting more and more confused.

“It was me who approached you. I’m gay and you’re not but I still liked you. It’s true that we were best friends but my feelings were too strong and I confessed. You accepted it but then you started to avoid me and when I approached you…you said to stay away.” He explains.

Jihyun did that? Jihyun wouldn’t do something like that without a proper explanation especially the person he did that too was the person he likes. Jihyun isn’t as rude as someone like me who would bluntly turn down people. All this information that I hear is too much and I don’t have any idea what to do anymore.

“If you really feel disgusted by me then you don’t have to try so hard to avoid me. I’ll be the one who will keep the distance. I’m sorry for falling in love with you again.” Jibeom says and he turns around.

“Wait! No!” I grab his wrist stopping him from going away. Jibeom looked so confused on why I stopped him. “I don’t find you disgusting. I never did. The truth is…my heart has been acting weird for the past few weeks and ever since that incident…I kind of felt embarrassed whenever I see you.” I explain

“What? What do you mean by that?” Jibeom asks.

“What I’m trying to say is that I’m not avoiding you because I think you’re disgusting but because I can’t look at you straight without having my heart beat like crazy and my stomach turns.” I explain again looking down to hide my face. I then feel Jibeom’s hand on my face and he slowly lifts it up making me face him.

“Do you like me?” Jibeom seriously asks and I have no idea what to reply.

“I don’t know…I’m not sure yet.” I reply.

“I like you Jihyun” he confesses and I remember that who Jibeom likes is Jihyun and not me. I push him away and tell him that he’s wrong.

“You…don’t like me. You just think so because we haven’t seen each other before and our closeness just got you confused.” I tell him.

“I know my feelings Jihyun. I know that I like you.” He confesses again.

“You don’t. Jibeom, I’m not the same person that you have known before. I have changed. I’m like a completely different person.” I explain but Jibeom looked like he wasn’t having it. Jibeom walks closer and he pulls me into a hug.

“It’s true. You have changed. There are things that you like now that you didn’t before. Even your appearance has changed but…I still like you. No. More like I fell in love again with the new you. I like hanging out with you and I love to see you smiling and having fun with me. If you think that I like you today because you’re my ex then you’re wrong. I like you for who you are Jihyun and nothing will change that.” Jibeom explains. I hugged him back, burying my head on his shoulder. Hearing him say that he fell in love with the new Jihyun gives me so much happiness. 

“I…I think I like you too Jibeom. I think I have already have been since I first saw you.” I reply and Jibeom pulls me away so he can see my face.

“Really? Are you sure?” he asks trying to confirm if what I said is the truth. I just nod and Jibeom hugs me again in joy. I hug him back for a moment before pulling away a bit. Jibeom moved his hand to my face, moving his lips closer.

“Can I?” He asked and I kissed him as a response. Jibeom was surprised at first but it didn’t take long before he kissed me back. Jibeom slowly moves away from the kiss, taking something out from his pocket. “I wanted to give this to you after the party but I never got the chance because you kept avoiding me.” He says opening a box. Inside the box is a beautiful silver bracelet that has a gem at the end. 

“I secretly bought this while you were looking at some piercings.” He added taking my hand as he put the bracelet to my wrist.

“It’s beautiful. Thank you Jibeom.” I say holding his hand and putting them closer to my heart. “I love you.” I whispered and he hugged me saying it back.

Being in a relationship means being lovey dovey with each other whenever you’re alone with your partner. I always imagine that both will try to touch each other sweetly in any way they can and will always say I love you to each other. That is what I always thought so...why does the aura feel more awkward than the first time we met?

Since morning, I did nothing but try to get closer to Jibeom but all he does is move away or ignore me. I couldn’t take the playing tag with him anymore so when he went to his room, I followed him.

“I’m tired of playing with you.” I say and Jibeom looked a bit freaked out which made me more pissed. “We’re dating right?” I ask him.

“Yeah. We are. Why do you ask?” He nervously replies.

“Then we’re going on a date! Change into something nice and I mean the clothes I bought you.” I say slamming the door. I’m going to make Jibeom touch me during our date no matter how many times it takes.

I waited for Jibeom to come out of his room and I swear, for a guy that likes to wear tacky clothes, he really likes taking his time to get ready. He finally came out wearing one of the clothes that I bought him and he never looked better. I noticed that he didn’t fix his hair keeping it down. I quickly went back to my room getting a gel on my hands and came back fixing his hair up.

“Jihyun what are you doing?” He asks, trying to stop my hands although it didn’t work. 

“There. You really look better showing your forehead like that.” I say cleaning my hands.

“I don’t think I look different though.” He replied blushing. “Anyway, where are we going?” he asks while taking out his car keys.

“It’s a secret and that means-” I say taking the car keys off his hand, “No driving today.” I added. The truth is I would’ve driven us to the place but since I still haven’t got my license, it’s better if we take public transportation.

I did my best to walk close with Jibeom but he keeps moving away, making sure that there is like at least a feet of distance between us. Riding the train was the same because Jibeom decided that he’ll sit far away from me. It didn’t help that the girls inside kept looking and giggling at him. We’re not even at the place but I’m already getting more and more pissed.

When we reached our stop, I quickly pulled him out, ruffling his hair to get back from being down. Jibeom pushed me a bit to let himself free from my grip.

“What are you suddenly doing?” He asks.

“I take it back. Having your hair down is much better.” I say walking away and Jibeom quietly follows. 

I look back at him and he looks like a dejected puppy and I felt guilty for venting out my frustration to him like that. I was supposed to make him closer to me so getting angry should not be an option. I tried talking to Jibeom but he just said yes to everything that I have said and I don’t know if I should feel sad or mad.

I looked ahead and little by little until I could see the building and I jumped in excitement. I pull Jibeom telling him to hurry up and we ran until we reached the main door.

“An aquarium?” Jibeom asks. “I thought you hate seafood?” He added.

“I do but that doesn’t mean I don’t like looking at them.” I reply excitedly.

I told him to wait for me while I buy the tickets. It didn’t even take me five minutes to buy them but when I returned, Jibeom is already surrounded by girls. I just stand there with my arms crossed while looking at him being so nice to them.

Jibeom finally noticed me and he excused himself from the girls running towards me. You could see the girls being sad but when they saw me they got excited again but I glared at them making them scared.

“Sorry about that.” He says but I turned around, walking away.

“No worries. It looked like you even enjoyed it.” I say, walking faster. I looked back and Jibeom quietly followed me like a puppy rejected from his master. "You don't have to follow me like that you know? Walking beside me is fine." I say and Jibeom jogged beside me.

The aquarium is beautiful and for a moment, I forgot my mission with Jibeom. I keep running around all over trying to check out every fish and other sea creatures. Since my parents have been busy, we never got a chance to go out again and it’s the first that I have been to an aquarium.

“Jibeom! Look here!” I shout and Jibeom just slowly walked towards me while smiling like an idiot.

“I’m coming. You’re acting like a child.” He says laughing. I watched him walk slowly until I thought of an idea. I ran to him and hugged his arm, pulling him to the glass. I thought I finally succeeded but the moment we arrived, Jibeom pulls away again.

“It’s really pretty.” He says.

Throughout the time that we’re inside, I tried so hard to touch him or even just hold his hand but this guy keeps pulling away or creating reasons to be far from me. Eventually, I gave up half-way through and I just tried to enjoy the place.

“Jellyfish hall?” I ask myself as I see the sign next to it’s entrance. “Let’s go there.” I say taking his hand and pulling him inside. 

The hall was dark and the only light you could see were from the tanks with the jellyfish inside. The color was a beautiful pink and I couldn’t help but be mesmerized by them. I looked at Jibeom to see his expression and it was very warm. I moved my eyes down and I see that Jibeom and I are actually holding hands and I couldn’t be happier.

However, Jibeom quickly noticed and let’s go while saying that the jellyfish are really beautiful and majestic. I just stared at him as I tried to calm myself trying to think of the reason why he hates touching me now.

“Let’s just go home. I’m getting tired already.” I tell him feeling sad.

While walking back home, Jibeom and I never talked. We passed by the nearby park around our apartment and I looked around and I didn’t see any person so I took the chance to test him out, hugging his arm. However, Jibeom quickly pulled himself away while saying sorry.

“If you’re sorry then why do you keep pulling yourself away like that?” I asked but Jibeom didn’t answer. “I got it. You don’t really like me, do you?” I say, walking past him. Jibeom grabs my hand to stop me from walking away. “Let go.” I coldly say.

“It’s not because I don’t like you. I don’t want to touch you because I like you too much.” He says.

“I don’t understand. If you like me so much then why don’t you like touching me?” I ask again.

“It’s because I don’t know if I could control myself from wanting to touch you more. When I’m close to you, I want to do things that are really perverted.” He says looking away blushing.

“You’re an idiot.” I tell him laughing hard. “I thought that you really hated me but it was actually because of that?” I say while still laughing. I finally calmed down and I wiped my tears away from laughing too much.

“Did you think I was some sort of a maiden that wouldn’t do something perverted?” I ask moving closer and wrapping my arms around his neck. “I’m a man too Jibeom. Doing something perverted will not be a problem to me.” I say kissing his lips.

“You sure you won’t regret it?” Jibeom asks, putting his hands on my waist.

“Try me.” I replied, smirking and he hurriedly pulled me back to our apartment.

Jibeom didn’t hold himself back that night, touching me all over and making me feel good. I don’t remember how many times we did it but it felt so good that I kept screaming in pleasure wanting more from him. The next day I woke up with my voice being hoarse from screaming too much last night but the sight of Jibeom sleeping beside me makes it worth it.


	5. Chapter 5

Few weeks have passed since Jibeom and I started dating and everyday has been amazing. We’ve been going out most of the weekends to amusement parks, beaches or any place that we want to go to. I al;so forgot to look for another apartment because I was so happy being with him. Although sometimes, Jibeom’s urges are getting out of control and it’s honestly not good for my back. 

“Is Jibeom still being active?” Youngtaek asks and I nod my head fast. Seungmin laughs and tells me that I should reject Jibeom once in a while. I explained that I did but the same thing still happens.

I told Seungmin and Youngtaek about my relationship with Jibeom and they’ve one hundred percent supported me. I’m really grateful that I have friends like them through their constant wanting to eat outside is too much.

“So where are we going to eat today?” Youngtaek asks.

“Since it’s my turn, I think you already know.” I reply and he groans making me laugh.

As we were walking to the cafe near our university, Seungmin suddenly stopped walking, looking freaked out. Youngtaek and I ask him what’s wrong and Seungmin just pointed forward. I look at where he’s pointing and I wouldn’t want to believe what I saw.

“Jihyun…” I whisper to myself.

“Woah. He looks so much like you bro” Youngtaek says, teasing me how Jihyun looked so proper unlike me.

All I could think of is if I’m going to talk to him or run away. I wasn’t ready to see Jihyun since the accident and especially since I’m pretending to be him with Jibeom.

“You know what. I’m not really in the mood for bread. Why don’t you choose today Youngtaek?.” I tell them while trying to pull them away from the area. Youngtaek wasn’t helping as he kept asking what’s wrong with me and honestly I just want to get out of there.

“Jaehyun. That’s you, right?” I heard someone say from my back and I knew that I couldn’t run away anymore.

“Seungmin…please take Youngtaek inside the café. I’ll follow you after.” I tell Seungmin and he quickly takes Youngtaek away though he kept whining. I turn around and face Jihyun for the first time after more than 3 years.

“Hi Jihyun. It’s been a long time.” I greet him and his expression is a mix of happiness and worry. “Do you need anything?” I ask him.

“Why didn’t you come home after going back from the States?” he asks back, making me scoff.

“Isn’t it obvious? I didn’t want to come home because I didn’t want to see you guys. Also, I hope you haven’t forgotten how your parents said that they didn’t want to see me ever again, right?” I reply to him.

“That…they only said that because they’re angry. And please don’t talk like they’re not your parents too.” Jihyun replies and I roll my eyes.

“They’re mad at me because I put their favorite son into danger. I’m just a nobody at that house so it doesn’t matter if I come home or not.” I tell him.

“That’s not true. You’re their son too. They love you too Jaehyun.” Jihyun says which made me quite angry.

“You can say that because you’re the one that felt all their love. You have no idea what it feels like eating at the dinner table with no one talking to you or not even asking why you're suddenly leaving. You have no idea what it feels when your parents never come into any school activity because of all the attention on you. You have never experienced it because you were the good child who always excels in everything while I was the bad and useless child!” I snapped back at him pushing away so I could go back to my friends who’re waiting at the door of the café.

“Who’s that?” Youngtaek asks.

“He’s…Jihyun. He’s my twin.” I reply and Youngtaek shouts in disbelief.

“What?! Why didn’t you tell me anything about a twin? I thought you were an only child. Is that why you didn’t want me to come to your house?” Youngtaek asks while Seungmin is trying to calm him down.

“Is it okay leaving him like that?” Seungmin asks too.

“We didn’t really get along so it’s alright” I replied to him.

“Does Jibeom know you have a twin?” Seungmin asks, making me flinch. Jibeom doesn’t know because he thinks I’m Jihyun but Seungmin and Youngtaek don't know that.

“He doesn’t. Like you guys, he thinks that I'm an only child.” I lie to them. “Let’s stop talking about my family and just eat.” I tell them, pushing them to go inside the café.

Though I tell them that, I can’t stop thinking how Jihyun finally found me. I’m pretty sure he’ll always try to find ways to talk to me and the worst part is when he finds out that I’m living with Jibeom. With my mind thinking of the possible chances it could happen, I couldn’t even eat.

After that, Youngtaek kept asking me about Jihyun although Seungmin kept on making him shut up while apologizing to me. I tell them that it was alright and that I really have nothing to tell because Jihyun and I never really got along let alone hangout. Eventually, Youngtaek gave up and I finally got a clear mind.

Later that day, I stayed inside my room thinking how I’m going to avoid Jihyun or how I can make him go away but most importantly, how I am going to hide my relationship with Jibeom from him. I hear a knock on my door and I tell him that the door is open. The door opens and Jibeom comes inside smiling.

“Hey. Still can’t sleep?” He asks and I tell him yes moving to the side so he could lie down beside me. He climbs up and I move closer lying on his chest then hugging him while his arm is behind my neck. 

“Do you want to sleep here? Just for tonight…” I say and Jibeom was taken aback.

“Suddenly? Did something happen?” he asks while playing with my hair.

“I’m just having a rough time with my studies.” I lie to him, hugging him tighter. “Please.” I say looking up to him and he kissed me.

“If you’re begging so cutely at me like that then of course I couldn’t refuse you.” He says then pinching my cheeks.

Jibeom and I stayed like that for the rest of the night until both of us fell asleep. I felt better now that I talked to Jibeom but the fear inside me still grows. The next day, I woke up with Jibeom already gone, leaving me a note saying that he had something to do in the morning and that he’s very sorry that he couldn’t wake me up.

Throughout the day Jibeom kept texting me either by asking what I was doing or just updating me about his. Despite him having a princely image, Jibeom surprisingly texts quite cutely especially since we began to date.

“Jaehyun!” I hear someone scream and I look around to see where it came from until I see Jihyun running angrily to me.

“Again? Don’t you get tired of doing this?” I ask him.

“I don’t but what about you? Don’t you get tired of lying every day?” He asks back and I look at him confused.

“What are you talking about?” I ask him again and he smirks.

“You’ve been living with Jibeom all this time, right? Did you tell him about us being twins?” Jihyun replies and my body froze. How did Jihyun find out about that? “That’s not all. You’re in a relationship with him by pretending to be me!” Jihyun snaps back.

“How…what are you talking about? Where did you hear that?” I ask, stammering.

“My friend told me. He’s friends with one of Jibeom’s friend. He suddenly asked me why I didn’t tell him that I got back with Jibeom and since I have never seen him since middle school and the fact that you’re living with him now, it only means that you’re pretending to be me!” he explains.

I wanted to create an excuse but my mind isn’t properly working. One of my biggest fears came true and I have no idea how to explain it.

“Why would you do that? Don’t you know how Jibeom would feel about this? How I would feel?” Jihyun asks.

“How you would feel?” I ask looking at Jihyun again. “Jihyun. Do you still like Jibeom?” I asked him back and Jihyun was taken aback. He didn’t say anything but his face says it all, he still likes Jibeom. I was about to ask him why he left Jibeom if he still likes him but someone interrupted.

“Jihyun? Wait…what is going on?” I look at where the sound came from and I see a stunned Jibeom with a bouquet. Shit! There’s no way out at this point. How am I going to explain why there are two Jihyun?

“What are you doing here?” I ask him, scared.

“You were feeling down yesterday so I thought that surprising you might cheer you up but why is there suddenly two?” He says and I tell him that I’m sorry then quickly running away from the situation. I did my best to run away as fast as I could but Jibeom was too fast and he caught up with me.

“Jihyun wait! Please explain what is going on. Why were there two of you?” Jibeom asks while trying to catch his breath.

“Isn’t it obvious? He’s my twin.” I reply.

“Twin? Why didn’t you tell me you had a twin? And why did you run away?” he asks again.

“I didn’t tell you because we didn’t get along. And I ran away because…” I replied but I tried to think of an excuse but nothing came up. If I lie, it will be easily discovered since Jihyun is here.

“Because what?” Jibeom asks.

“I ran away because I was scared.” I reply. “I was scared that you’d hate me because I lied,” I added.

“I wouldn’t hate you just because you lied. Jihyun, I love you so much and a single lie isn’t gonna change that.” Jibeom says. I close my eyes and calm myself first before I finally tell the truth.

“Don’t you get it? I’m not Jihyun. I’m not the person you used to date and the person you love. I’ve been pretending to be him all this time. My name is not Jihyun but it's Jaehyun” I finally confessed to him and I was expecting him to shout or push me but instead I just heard him sigh.

“So? That’s the reason why you’re scared? That I would leave you just because you’re not Jihyun?” He asks and all I could do was nod. “Jihyun…no I mean Jaehyun. Ever since I saw you, you weren’t as close as being like Jihyun. You were a completely different person but I still fell in love with you. The truth is…I was scared of you being Jihyun because I thought that maybe you’ll leave me again.” Jibeom explains then hold both of my hands. “Jaehyun I love you whether you’re Jihyun or not. I love you for who you are.” He says. I want to cry out of joy that Jibeom still likes me for who I am. That he wasn’t going to leave me even finding out the truth.

Suddenly, we hear footsteps coming towards us and both of us look to see Jihyun who tried to follow us. Seeing Jihyun’s face made me remember all the things I’ve done to him before as well as our conversation earlier.

“No!” I reply to him slapping away my hands. “You might think that but I don’t.” I say and Jibeom asks me what the hell I’m saying.

“I’m saying that I never loved you. I just used it to my advantage. You see, I didn’t want to get kicked out just because I’m not Jihyun. Then you started falling in love with me and I would hate it if things get troublesome so I just went with the flow.” I explain even though the words that I say are stabbing through my heart.

“You’re lying” Jibeom replies with his face slowly becoming hurt.

“Why would I lie now? I’m already caught. “I tell him. “But you know I’m actually quite glad that I’m caught because now I don’t have to pretend to be in a relationship with a man. You know how disgusting that is?” I added making it the most painful because of how hurt Jibeom’s expression is.

“Since I’m caught I guess I have to leave now. Ahh! I have to find another apartment again. I guess this is goodbye” I say patting Jibeom’s shoulder and pushing Jihyun away so I could leave. When I felt that I was far enough I ran as quickly as possible to the bathroom locking myself in one of the cubicles.

The tears that I’m holding back start to come out and the pain in my chest keeps on getting worse. I didn’t want to lie anymore but I know that Jibeom deserves better. He doesn’t deserve someone who’s bad enough to almost kill someone. While crying, all I could say was sorry to him. I keep repeating to myself how I’m so sorry to Jibeom.

I didn’t know how long I was crying there but when I came out my eyes were so red and puffy and it made me look like a mess. I wash my face for a bit to make it a little better then I look at the time to see that around an hour or so has passed since then. I wasn’t in the mood to go to class anymore but I also don’t want to come home yet. I think about any place where I could go and all I could think of is coming to Youngtaek’s home would be the best place.

When I arrived there, I tried to ring Youngtaek’s apartment but no one answered. Realizing that Youngtaek still wasn’t home, I waited for him outside. While waiting for him, I start to get emotional again and I squat down burying my head.

“Jaehyun? Is that you?” I hear someone say and I look up to see it’s Youngtaek. “What are you doing and…what happened with you?” he asks. I stand up and fix myself first.

“Can I stay over for the night? Please.” I reply to him and Youngtaek looks at me for a second then he agrees.

We go up to his apartment and before he opens the door he tells me that it’s a bit messy and I tell him that it’s okay. When we were in the living room, I could see how messy of a person Youngtaek is. He keeps saying sorry but I kept on reassuring him that it’s fine.

“Did you have a fight with Jibeom? Your face looks terrible.” He asks.

“Something like that…no…more like we're through with each other.” I replied tearing up.

“What? Why? You guys were so perfect.” Youngtaek replies.

“Something happened and I really don’t want to talk about it.” I said and Youngtaek understood what I wanted.

“Well…you can stay here as long as you want although I don’t have a spare room you can still sleep on the couch.” He said and I said thank you.

Youngtaek went to his room to get me some pillows and a blanket while I tried to clean his living room. When he came back he helped clean his living area too. I then fixed the blanket and pillow on the couch so I could finally rest. Youngtaek asks me if I already ate and I said yes although it’s a lie since I’m not really hungry. Youngtaek orders his food and while he waits we watch some anime although I don’t understand because Youngtaek watches without any subtitles so he could study Japanese.

“Hey Youngtaek” I tap him and he looks at me asking what’s wrong. “Can you help me again? I…I want to find a new apartment.” I say to him.

“Sure but are you sure about leaving Jibeom?” he asks.

“I’m sure and also. Can I stay here until I find a new place?” I ask him back.

“No problem. I told you that you can stay here as long as you want” He replies, wrestling me. Youngtaek kept on playing with me until I gave out because my stomach hurt from too much laughing. “Much better” he says and I realized that he was trying to cheer me up.

“Thanks Youngtaek,” I told him while I continued to watch until I fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

I skipped classes for two days because I was still not in the mood to go to class and Youngtaek understood that. Seungmin also tried to visit me during those times and we mostly played games on our phone or watch something on the tv.

“Yeah. I’m about to come home now” I say to Youngtaek and I hang up on the phone.

As I’m heading out, I found Jibeom waiting for me at the gate. Of course I tried to ignore him but when he noticed me he quickly grabbed me and pulled me to the side.

“Let’s talk please.” He says but I wasn’t ready to talk to him yet.

“I’m busy.” I tell him to pull my hand away.

“Just for a little while. Jaehyun…I still love you. I don’t care whatever reason you had for pretending to be Jihyun.” He says and I bite my lips and I finally look at him. Jibeom’s face was also a mess and it looks like he’s been crying too but I still have to keep myself away.

“But I don’t! Can’t you get that on your head?” I say to him pushing him away which made him stumble. “You know. I’m so tired of you saying ‘I love you’ to me. Every time I hear it, it gives me shiver because it’s just so disgusting.” I added pushing him again when he tried to get close to me.

“What is wrong with you?!” Jihyun shouts pushing me away from Jibeom and then helping him out. Seeing Jihyun helps Jibeom made it all more clearly to me that they’re best for each other but at the same time it ticked me. “Why are you still acting like a child Jaehyun? Don’t you know how much Jibeom got hurt because of what you did?” Jihyun asks.

“That’s right. I am acting like a child because I can’t do anything right. All I do always results in a disaster and that’s when you always come, Jihyun. You always know how to handle things because you’re the good one. You’re the one that’s always right and I’m always wrong.” I reply.

“That’s because you always choose to do the bad thing. I mean look what you've done now! You lied and even pretended to be me. How do you expect this to have a happy ending?” Jihyun says making me even madder.

“I really hate it when you pinpoint me like that. Everything I do doesn’t have a happy ending, huh?” I mutter, making Jihyun ask me what I’m saying. “I really don’t have any happy endings. Even when I already pushed you down the stairs that day, you still manage to be alive.” I say.

“What are you talking about?” Jibeom asks.

“His little accident wasn’t really an accident like everyone thought. I didn’t accidentally push you Jihyun. I purposely pushed you because I wanted you to die. That way mom and dad will finally look at-“I suddenly feel someone slap me in the face making me fall to the ground. I looked up to see who it was and it was Jibeom.

“I can’t believe that you would actually say that to your own brother. I thought that I really knew you but I guess I was wrong.” Jibeom leaves taking Jihyun with him and I just stay on the floor crying because I know that I deserve everything that is happening to me.

I come back to Youngtaek’s house and I see him and Seungmin on the sofa. I softly knock on the wall to tell them that I’m home and they quickly look at me with a worried expression.

“What’s wrong again?” Seungmin asks but I just told them that it’s nothing.

“Youngtaek, you said you wanted to tell me something. What is it?” I ask while taking a sit.

“Well…I found you a new apartment and guess what? It has no roommates this time.” He says.

“Really? Where is it?” I ask again.

“Your new apartment will be this.” He says waving his arms around. “I’m letting you rent my apartment.” He added.

“What? No…I can’t. I can’t bother you forever.” I tell him and he chuckles.

“You won’t bother him. I have an extra room in mine and Youngtaek could stay there while you stay here.” Seungmin explains.

“If you have an extra room then why can’t I be the one that will stay with you? Isn’t that much less of a hassle rather than letting me rent Youngtaek’s?” I ask and they both look at each other. Both of them looked like they were hiding something and something in me tells me that my hunch is right. “It’s because you guys are dating.” I say making them shocked.

“You knew?” Seungmin asks.

“I kind of felt it. You guys were always together and you keep looking at each other especially when the topic is about relationships.” I explain and they both sighed.

“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you. We just don’t know how. But now that you know, we can finally tell you the truth.” Seungmin says.

“Seungmin and I have been dating since high school. We didn’t tell you because we thought it would throw you off.” Youngtaek confess.

I told them that everything is fine and that I’m not mad at them for hiding their relationship from me. They also told me not to tell anyone since I’m the first that they had revealed their relationship to and I felt special.

A few days later, I helped Youngtaek move all his stuff to Seungmin’s apartment and in return they’ll help me too. Youngtaek didn’t have a lot of stuff but more like a lot of dirt and we spent more hours cleaning than packing. Jibeom didn’t come to meet me after that day and I haven’t seen Jihyun either. When someone asks me when I’m going to pack my stuff, I tell them that we’re getting it on the day that Jibeom isn’t at home for the whole day.

The day comes when I’m finally leaving Jibeom for good. Youngtaek, Seungmin and I arrived at Jibeom’s place with foldable boxes. I opened the door and immediately all the memories came back making me want to cry again. I walk around and I see that my schedule was still posted on the fridge. I take it out, crumpling it and then putting it in my pocket.

Youngtaek calls me from my room and I hurriedly run to them and the moment I see my room, I tear up. I had a lot of memories with Jibeom here and now that it’s over I can’t help it but be depressed even though it’s my fault.

“What should we take first?” Seungmin asks. I tell Seungmin to put all the shoes and books in his box while Youngtaek will take the pillows and blankets and stuff. I put all my other stuff on my box while I put my clothes on the luggage that I have brought before. After hours of organizing and cleaning, we finally finished and I told them to head down straight for the boxes.

While I’m waiting for them to come back to take the other box and luggage, I take a peak on Jibeom’s room. It still looks so messy just like before but the thing that I was surprised was that the clothes that we bought together are out but preserved.

“I wonder what Jibeom was planning to do with these.” I mutter to myself while I look at the clothes. While looking through them I notice the bracelet on my wrist that Jibeom gave to me. I removed the bracelet from my wrist and looked at it for a few seconds before I put it down on his bedside table.

“Goodbye Jibeom” I say before coming out of his room. A few minutes later, Youngtaek and Seungmin comes back up carrying the other box and luggage and we finally come down. We putted everything on the back seat and as we’re ready to leave, I saw Jibeom and Jihyun together.

Both of them look so happy laughing together like that. Again, my heart felt like it was being stabbed multiple times as I watched them. Youngtaek and Seungmin must have noticed them too because Seungmin asks me if I’m okay and I tell them to just go. They didn’t say anything and Youngtaek drove away from the parking lot.

The drive was quiet and even after we arrived at Youngtaek’s apartment, none of us really said anything. We moved the boxes and luggage little by little until everything was up. Youngtaek broke through the silence when he announced that he’s too thirsty while getting water at the kitchen making Seungmin and I laugh.

“Jaehyun…” Seungmin says then he holds my hand. “As much as I want you to take your time, as your friend, I also want to know the truth. What exactly happened with you and Jibeom?” he asks.

“The truth is…it’s my entire fault. Jibeom agreed to be my roommate because he thought that I was Jihyun, my twin. And I didn’t tell him the truth even after we got together because I was scared that he'd leave me because I wasn’t Jihyun.” I looked at Seungmin and he didn’t say anything except giving me a sign to continue.

“And then Jihyun saw me at the café and eventually he found out that Jibeom and I are dating and that I’m pretending to be him because his friend says that he and Jibeom were back together again. Jihyun confronted me and I found out that Jihyun still likes Jibeom. And after that, Jibeom saw us.” I stop for a while to wipe my tears that just went down while I’m telling them the truth.

“I felt like everything crumbled and…because of that I told Jibeom that I was just using him. Eventually Jibeom tried to talk to me after that but because Jihyun was there I start to get jealous and…I told Jibeom that I wanted Jihyun to be gone and he slapped me.” I explain. Seungmin and Youngtaek just pat my shoulder trying to calm me down.

“Since then, Jibeom and I haven’t spoken. I know it’s my entire fault and that I’m really a bad person.” I finally say and Seungmin pulls me into a hug.

“Hey. It’s okay. I admit that you did something wrong but you don’t have to beat yourself for it. Just take your time to calm down.” He says then softly pushes me away. “Running away isn’t going to solve everything. I think it’s best if you talk to Jibeom and this time, tell him the truth” Seungmin advised.

“I don’t even know if he still wants to talk to me.” I reply.

“Take your time. When everything calms down, then try to talk to him.” Seungmin says.

“We can even back you up when that time comes” Youngtaek added, making me smile.

“Thanks guys. You really are the best” I tell them, giving them both a hug.

“It’s getting late. We should head home.” Youngtaek says to Seungmin and he nods.

“Is it okay if we leave now, Jaehyun?” Seungmin asks and I tell them it was fine. “Okay. Just call us if you need any help” Seungmin says and I nod as a reply.

Seungmin and Youngtaek said goodbye again before leaving the apartment. I wave them goodbye and tell them to take care. I look at the boxes and I immediately remember the first time Jibeom and I met. I wondered how things would be now if I had told him the truth in the first place.

Two weeks have passed since I fully left the apartment and I’m still feeling depressed with everything that happened. Today, I’m meeting Youngtaek and Seungmin at my favorite café. They have been very sensitive with me lately and I can see how they try so hard to make me smile.

“Hey-“I was about to call them when I heard Seungmin say Jibeom’s name.

“Jaehyun needs to talk to Jibeom. He can’t always run away.” Seungmin says.

“I know but I don’t think this is the right time.” Youngtaek says

“Then when will it be? Youngtaek, I’m worried for Jaehyun. He doesn’t look like he’s getting better by the day.” Seungmin replies.

“I’m worried too but they can’t talk yet, especially since it looks like Jibeom and Jihyun have started to date again for real.” Youngtaek explains making my heart drop. I knew it. I knew that I wasn’t really needed and that Jihyun was really the person he loved. I stop myself from tearing up by breathing slowly.

“Hey guys.” I finally said and Youngtaek and Seungmin looked so surprised.

“Hey. Have you been here for a while?” Youngtaek asks but I just told them that arrived. You can clearly see the relief on their faces when I said that.

“Then let’s order. I’m so hungry today.” Youngtaek says.

Youngtaek and Seungmin ordered first and I followed by ordering just a drink. I wasn’t really hungry and after hearing that, I just lost all my appetite that I have left. Our order arrived after a few minutes and Seungmin looked worried when he saw that I had just ordered a drink.

“You’re not going to eat?” He asks.

“No. I’m not really hungry.” I reply to him.

“Jaehyun. Have you been eating properly?” Seungmin asks again and I tell him yes although I admit that I eat less than before and I sometimes skip meals because I wasn’t in the mood. “Please eat properly. You might have not noticed it but you lost a lot of weight for the past two weeks.” Seungmin says.

“What? I didn’t lose any weight” I tell him laughing it off.

“He’s not joking. Even I noticed how you lost so much weight. I also noticed that you always stop eating after taking two bites.” Youngtaek explains.

I tell them that I was really fine and that I’m properly eating although I am eating less at the moment. However, I did reassure them that I’m not skipping any meals just so they could drop the topic. We continue to eat and talk until every food is finished. I got a little bit scolded because I couldn’t finish my milkshake so I tried my best to finish it.

Even after a few days, my appetite didn’t improve and I still kept on eating less and skipping meals. Not eating much really didn’t bother me and I never really felt hungry so I thought I was just fine. However, while I’m going to the university my head suddenly went dizzy. I then start to lose strength in my body and my vision is slowly getting hazy until everything goes pitch black.


	7. Chapter 7

I wake up with a painful headache and a weak body. I look around and everything around me is white. I moved my arms and I felt something on my left arm. I move it up and see that I have an IV inserted. Based on what I’m seeing and feeling, it looks like I collapse while going to university.

“I did it this time.” I mutter and the door opens. A guy that looks like a doctor and some nurses came inside with him.

“Hello Jaehyun. How are you feeling?” The doctor asks.

“Much better although I have a headache” I tell him. The doctor tells the nurse to bring me some painkiller to ease the headache.

“Do you know the reason why you’ve collapsed?” The doctors ask again and I tell him that I don’t know. “You’re malnourished. Your body hasn’t been getting the nutrients it needs. The good thing is that all you need is an IV; however, I want you to properly eat after you get discharged. Understood?” The doctor tells me and I agree.

“Good. I have called your parents too. They already know that you can go out once the IV is finished.” The doctor lastly says before leaving.

“Great! Now I have to deal with my parents too.” I exclaimed after the doctor and nurses left.

The door opens again and I try to see who it is and Youngtaek and Seungmin come inside. They both have a worried and mad expression and I could totally see why.

“We’ve told you many times to eat properly!” Seungmin scolds me.

“You told us that you haven’t been skipping meals. Why did you lie?” Youngtaek asks.

“I’m sorry. I just didn’t have an appetite. But I have learned my lesson. I promise to eat properly this time.” I say lifting my hand up.

“Please keep that promise. Do you have any idea how worried we are when we found out that you collapsed?” Seungmin says and Youngtaek tries to calm him.

“I’m so sorry, okay? And also thank you for bringing me to the hospital.” I tell them and both of them flinches.

“Actually…we weren’t the one who brought you to the hospital.” Youngtaek says and I ask if it’s not them then who? “It was Jibeom. He saw you collapse and he brought you to the hospital.” Youngtaek explains.

“We just received a text from him saying you’re at the hospital. When we came, he was already gone.” Seungmin added. “Jaehyun. Youngtaek and I were really worried about you these past few weeks. If you want someone to listen just know that you can depend on us too.” Seungmin says and I could honestly see his eyes almost wanting to tear up.

“Thank you. I really appreciate it and I’m glad to have friends like you guys. I’m sorry that I also caused you trouble.” I reply and Youngtaek hugs me tight.

“You can do this bro.” He says, pulling away then ruffling my hair.

Youngtaek and Seungmin told me everything about what happened starting from when they found out that I collapsed from Jibeom to me now being famous at the university for suddenly collapsing and then being carried bridal style by some unknown guy. They even showed me the pictures and I felt so embarrassed. The three of us continued to talk until we heard someone knocking.

The door opened and my parents came inside as well as Jihyun. You could see in their face the disappointment and frustration. Youngtaek and Seungmin greeted them before saying goodbye and I told them that I’ll just see them in school.

“Honestly, can’t you do something good for once Jaehyun.” My mother says. “You didn’t come home since you’ve returned from the States and the next thing we know is that you’re in the hospital because you’re not eating well.” She added.

“Funny for you to say that. I thought you didn’t want to see me. I just did you a favor by not showing up, that way you don’t have to pretend that you don’t see me.” I replied and I could see her getting pissed.

“You shouldn’t talk to your mother that way. Since it has come to this, you’ll be staying with us after you’re discharged.” Father says.

“What? I don’t want to! I’m not coming back to that house so that I could live with fakes like you that don’t even know how to love their own son!” I reply and mom slaps me.

“You really are no good of a son.” She says before coming out of my room. Dad followed her, leaving Jihyun alone with me. I looked at Jihyun and he looked like he wanted to say something to me.

“Spit it out.” I tell him.

“You should really stop acting like that. Mom and dad cares for you.” He finally says

“And the righteous son finally speaks.” I reply rolling my eyes.

“This is what’s wrong with you. You never listen! You think this whole family is against you and you never stop to think why. You keep blaming us instead of trying to improve yourself.” Jihyun says and I snap.

“You think I didn’t try to improve? Do you know how many times I tried just to get good grades but every single time I keep getting overshadowed by you? I don’t want to be told that I’m not working hard enough by someone who easily gets praised with so little effort. Now if you have nothing more good to say then get out!” I say to him.

“I won’t. You still don’t get it Jaehyun” Jihyun says, making me angrier.

“Get out! Out! Get out of my sight!” I shout, throwing the pillows to him. “Out!” I shout again and Jihyun finally comes out.

I lie back down trying to rest so I could regain my strength. After that I just kept on pretending to be asleep so that I wouldn’t be able to talk to any of them. Few hours have passed and the IV is finally finished so they take it out.

Like my parents said, they made sure that I was coming home with them to make sure that this won’t happen again. Throughout the ride home and even after we got home, I never talked to them and I went straight to my room and locked it so that no one could get inside. Jihyun tried to talk to me many times but I just kept on ignoring him.

Hours later the maid knocked on my door to tell me that it's dinner time and my parents wished for my presence. I told her to go away and that I won’t eat dinner but she insisted saying that they have a spare key to open my door. I couldn’t refuse anymore when I heard that because I know that they’ll even drag me down if they have to.

I come down, taking a seat next to Jihyun. The meal prepared was very typical to what you can see in the movies or dramas with rich families. I hated looking at the food because it perfectly describes what kind of family I have and I don’t like it. I like eating homemade meals that you can easily make at home. The kind of meals that don't look expensive but they taste better.

“Eat or else you might collapse again.” Mom says.

“I don’t like the food.” I reply.

“Then what do you want? Just tell the chef and he’ll cook it.” Dad says.

“Even if I tell him I’m sure he wouldn’t be able to do it.” I reply.

“He’s a very good chef. Whatever food it is, I’m sure he can do it.” Mom says again.

“Fine.” I say looking at the chef. “Can you cook me the food that mom can cook? Or dad? Or even Jihyun? Can you cook a food that doesn’t need the expertise of a chef but something that can be made by a regular household?” I asked him and the guy looked stunned.

“What are you talking about Jaehyun? Just say what food you want.” Dad says raising his voice.

“You don’t even know what food I want. I want the food that my parents cooked with their heart. I want a very homely food and not something that you see in a fancy restaurant.” I tell them.

“Jaehyun calm down and just eat please.”Jihyun whispers.

“We don’t have something like that in this house. Now if you don’t like to eat anything then don’t eat. Find a way for yourself to find the food that you like.” Dad tells me then continued to eat his food.

“That’s fine by me because I never wanted to eat with you either way because no matter how good the food is, if I eat it with you it always tastes like dirt.” I say walking away from then and going back to my room.

Later, the maid knocked again but I told her that I still won’t come out and that they could drag me out all they want. However, she explained that my parents and Jihyun already went back to their rooms and that if I’m hungry I could still eat.

I slowly opened my door and the maid smiled at me. When I came back down, they said that they were sorry that they couldn’t make the meal that I want today but they’ll try to make it next time. I told them that they didn’t have to and that I was just venting out my frustrations.

I sat down and I finally ate the meal before me. I’m lying if I said that I didn’t actually want something else but I think it’s better to eat this rather than have them waste food. I ate slowly making sure that I won’t upset my stomach from suddenly eating too much. When I felt that my stomach was full I told them that I was finished and they quickly cleaned up.

I came back to my room and I found Jihyun sitting on my bed, patiently waiting for me. He never stood up even after I closed my door.

“What now?” I ask him.

“Mom and dad were really worried. Since you came back they never saw you yet when they did you were in the hospital.” He says.

“What are you trying to say?” I ask again.

“I’m saying that you should be more caring to them. Don’t push them away. Don’t try to always fight with them.” He replies.

“I’m not trying to fight them. They just don’t like me.” I say back. “Anyway I’m really tired and I want to sleep so get out of my room right now.” I tell him. 

I grab his wrist and pull him to my door. Jihyun keeps on telling me to behave myself and honestly it’s getting annoying. I open the door, pushing him out then slamming the door. I made sure to lock it so that no one could get in unless the maids gave them the spare key.

The next few days were the same as I’m still fighting with my parents and Jihyun. I was also getting picked up and dropped off to school to make sure that I wouldn’t run away. Youngtaek and Seungmin kept me in check at school to make sure that I’m eating properly.

I finally got the chance to go back to my apartment when my parents left for a business trip with our driver and when Jihyun was asleep. I came back to my apartment and I have never been so happy to be alone again. I texted Youngatek and Seungmin, telling them that I’m finally back to my apartment.

It wasn’t easy for the next few days because I kept playing my schedule with Jihyun and the driver so that they wouldn’t find out my real schedule. Either I go to school early or late or even go home very late, just so I could miss them. After a week of doing that, they finally gave up and I could peacefully go back.

I thought that everything was going back to normal but one day, on my way out of the university, I noticed that Jibeom was standing by the gate. Like last time, he quickly ran when he saw me but I just ignored him.

“Jaehyun. Could we talk please?” He said but I just kept on walking. “Jaehyun please. I need to talk to you.” He pleaded again but I still ignored him.

Jibeom lost his patience and he grabs my wrist and pulls me to his car. I keep on telling him to let go and that I never wanted to talk to him again. Jibeom didn’t listen and he kept on pulling me till we reach his car and he pushes me inside. Everything still hurts but most of all, the beating of my heart reminds me how much I still loves Jibeom.

Jibeom didn’t say anything while driving though I asked him multiple times on where he is taking me. I also kept reminding him that we don’t have anything to talk about and to bring me back to my university. The car stops and Jibeom comes out then opens my door.

“Get out.” He says but I ignore him. He then grabs my arm and pulls me out on force.

“That hurts!” I shout at him and he quickly lets go. I look around and I realize that we’re beside a river. The place was quiet and you could hear the sound of the water and the insects but most of all it looked beautiful and peaceful.

“I always come here whenever I feel sad. My head clears up and I can find solutions to my problems” Jibeom says. “But now, no matter how many times I come here, the pain doesn’t go away.” He says as he looks at me, holding up the bracelet that I left.

“Jaehyun. I want to know the truth. I want to know the real reason why you did those things. I want to know your real feelings.” He says.

“I already told you. You’re the only one who stubbornly doesn’t accept.” I reply.

“If those were true then why did you collapse because of malnutrition? Why did you look so terrible?” He asks again.

“Why does it matter now?” I ask him. Why does he need to know the truth? He and Jihyun are already dating. Isn’t that enough?

“It matters because I want to know the truth.” He firmly replies.

“Why? Why do you still need to know my feelings? So you could also hurt me back? Fine. You want to know the truth? I still love you. It’s true that I pretended to be Jihyun so I could keep being roommates with you but I really did fall in love. I was going to tell you but I didn’t know the right timing. I love you Jibeom. I love you so much and it hurts to see you dating Jihyun but I have to accept it. You happy now?” I blurted out and Jibeom hugged me tight.

“I’m very happy. I’m happy to know that you’re still in love with me.” He says and I push him.

“Let me go. Why are you happy about it? Isn’t giving Jihyun enough for you? You still want to play me?” I ask and Jibeom looked very confused.

“What are you talking about? Me and Jihyun?” he asks.

“Don’t play dumb. You’re in a relationship with Jihyun, right?” I reply.

“I’m not in a relationship with him. He’s even the one that said that he has no plans of going back with me.” He explains.

“You’re lying.” I reply.

“I’m not lying.” He firmly says.

“You are. I even saw you the day I moved out. I saw you two going back to your apartment from the parking lot. You two looked so happy together. You also never wore any of the clothes that I bought you because you and Jihyun hate it so much to have a thing from me. And don’t try to play dumb because I saw them out of your closet and they’re untouched.” I explain crying.

“Jihyun asked me to help him find you since I still have your schedule but when we went up everything was gone. All your stuff and even the schedule at the fridge were gone. I preserved the things you gave me because I was afraid that I'd ruin it. At the parking lot, the reason why I was so happy talking to Jihyun is because we're talking about you.” He explains.

“You’re lying again.” I tell him and Jibeom hugs me again.

“I’m not lying Jaehyun. The day you left…the moment I saw your bracelet on the table near my bed, I felt crushed. I didn’t like the fact that I wasn’t going to see you again but I was also confused because I felt used and betrayed.” He explains again. 

“The day when I found you collapsed on the floor, my view went black. I didn’t know what I was going to do if you died then. After that moment I finally became sure that I love you. I tried to talk to you again but the time I remember your schedule was messed up because I couldn’t even see you. I love you Jaehyun. I really do. Please believe me.” He confesses and I could feel something warm and wet on my shoulders making me hug him back.

“Do you really forgive me?” I ask.

“I think I already forgave you since the day I found out silly.” He replies slightly laughing. “I’m sorry that I got mad and slapped you. But believe me when I say that I regretted not chasing you that day. I regretted that I let my mind get the better of me.” He added and he started to kneel down.

“Jaehyun. I love you. I love you so much and nothing would change that. Not even your brother. I want to stay with you. I promise to cherish you for my whole life.” He confesses and I couldn’t help but cry more.

“I love you too Jibeom. I’m so sorry for everything that I have done and said. I’m so sorry.” I reply and he kisses me deeply.

“I love you Jaehyun.” He says and he kissed me again.

I didn’t know how long we were kissing but it was long enough for my lips to feel sore. Jibeom pulls away and he takes my hand, putting the bracelet back on my wrist and I didn't say anything but smile. After the bracelet was put on, he then holds my hand and kisses it.

“I am forever yours” He says and I tell him the same.

We got back home and Jibeom didn’t even take a second to kiss me again sliding his hands on my back. I wrapped my arms on his neck pulling him closer and feeling his warmth. He then began to undress me but I stopped him.

“Not here. Let’s do it on the bed.” I whisper to his ear. Jibeom pulls me to my room, pushing me down on the bed and returns to kissing me while continuing to remove my clothes. I did the same for him wanting more of his warmth, touching him all over.

“I love you Jibeom. I love you so much.” I say.

“I love you too Jaehyun.” He says kissing my forehead before he continues. I never let go of Jibeom throughout the night, making sure that I will remember his warmth that I have missed for so long.

I woke up feeling a hand brushing my hair. I open my eyes and I see Jibeom looking at me smiling so gently.

“Hey. I’m sorry, did I wake you up?” He says removing his hand on my hair.

“Yeah but don’t stop. It feels nice when you touch my hair like that.” I tell him moving myself closer spooning him. Jibeom softly laughed and he continued to play with my hair until I fell asleep again feeling satisfied.


	8. Chapter 8

“Great!” I say while I look at the meal that I have prepared for the night. It’s been more than a week since Jibeom and I got together again and I’m mostly living here again although I still go back to my apartment from time to time. I heard the door open and I hurriedly went to the front door to greet him.

“Welcome home Jibeom.” I greeted him and quickly went in for a hug. Jibeom softly pushes me away and when I look at him, his face is different. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?” I ask.

“Let’s break up Jaehyun.” He says, making me stunned. Break up? What is he talking about?

“That’s not a good joke Jibeom.” I reply adding an awkward laugh.

“I’m not joking. I want to break up.” Jibeom says looking straight at me.

“Bullshit! Why do you suddenly want to break up?” I ask him.

“I’m sorry. I thought I could still be in a relationship with you but…every time I see you, I still see Jihyun. Every single time that it happens, I just feel bad. That is why I don’t think I could continue being with you.” He explains making me more furious.

“You really think I’ll believe that? Who was the one that says he loves me and my brother has nothing to do with it? Who was the one that said that he’ll cherish me the rest of his life? Who was the one that kept telling me that he loves me? Who was the one that said he’ll stay with me forever?!” I asked him but Jibeom didn’t answer me and just kept on looking down.

“Fine. If that’s what you want then I’ll leave you for tonight but don’t think that I’ll just accept it like that.” I tell him and I go back to the living room to take my bag and coat. “You can put away my share for tonight.” I tell him before going out of his apartment crying.

I come back to my apartment still crying with Jibeom’s sudden break up. I didn’t even feel like eating and I just went to bed crying. 

“You liar. You stupid liar!” I shout. I don’t want to believe Jibeom’s reason and I know that he’s hiding something for me. I won’t give up until he tells me the truth and I surely won’t break up with him like this.

“What?!” Youngtaek and Seungmin asked at the same time.

“I don’t understand? Didn’t you just get back together like a week ago?” Youngtaek asks and I nodded. 

Because I cried too much last night, my eyes are now swollen and to keep some stares away, I put on some shades. Ofcourse, Youngtaek and Seungmin asked why and I told them that it was Jibeom wanted to break up with me.

“What’s the reason?” Seungmin asks.

“He said that he still sees Jihyun with me which I don’t accept. He said before that he doesn’t see me as Jihyun but as me and now… “ I explained and both of them just looked sad.

“I thought you guys were doing good. I even saw you yesterday at the mall when I was shopping for clothes.” Youngtaek says and it made me stunned.

“You saw us at the mall? Are you sure about that?” I asked and Youngtaek still said yes. “But…that’s impossible. I never went to the mall with him yesterday.” I explain making Youngtaek surprised

“No way. It was you. I’m sure of it.” He said and I asked him if he saw the hair and he said no because I was wearing a hat.

“I think I can somewhat understand what happened.” I say.

“What do you mean?” Seungmin asks.

“Jihyun talked to Youngtaek and said something that made him break up with me.” I explain.

After my class I hurriedly went to Jihyun’s university so I could talk to him. I waited at the front gate until he came out. I called him out and he looked so surprised to see me.

“What are you doing here? Did something happen?” he asks and I find it quite funny how he could lie like that.

“Are you sure you don’t know the reason why I’m here?” I ask.

“I’m sorry but I don’t know,” he replies.

“Then let me remind you. Jibeom suddenly wanted to break up with me yesterday. Now do you remember?” I say and like I thought he doesn’t seem to be surprised.

“Really? I’m sorry for that but what does it have to do with me?” He asks, making me laugh.

“Nothing to do with you? Well sorry to say but my friend saw you talking with him yesterday and when he came home he suddenly said that he wants to break up with me.” I explain and I could see him being scared. “What the hell did you say to him?” I ask.

“I’m sorry Jaehyun but it’s for the best that you guys break up.” He says it makes me irritated.

“Why? Why does it make it better? So you could get him instead? I thought you rejected him?” I ask.

“I did. But it doesn’t mean that you guys can be together. Trust me Jaehyun. It’s for your own good.” He says making me go mad.

“Why? Tell me the reason why so that I could understand.” I tell him.

“I can't.” He says.

“Why can’t I know? This is my relationship that is being affected! I deserve to know the reason why!” I told him but he just kept quiet, making me lose my patience. “Talk!” I shouted pushing him however I pushed him too hard getting him to stumble and fall to the road. Everything went slow as I watched Jihyun falling to the road and as I’m looking at him the memories of his accident came back.

It was my last year in middle school and I found out that my parents are going to move me to the States just so I could fix my attitude. Of course I know the real reason for that is because they don’t want to see me anymore.

“Jaehyun stop!” I look back to see Jihyun following me.

“I won’t! If they want me gone then I’ll leave but I'm not going to the States.” I tell him running up the stairs on the hill.

“Jaehyun no! It’s not what you think please!” Jihyun shouts still following me When I reach the top, I let myself breath but in a matter of seconds Jihyun catches up.

“Please don’t leave. Trust me. It’s for your own good.” He says.

“How is that good for me? I’ll be leaving my friends. I’ll be all alone in a country that I didn’t grow up in.” I tell Jihyun. Jihyun went to me holding my arms looking like he’ll burst into tears in a second.

“Jaehyun listened. It’s really for your own good. Mom and Dad love you that is why they’re sending you away.” He says.

“That doesn’t make any sense at all! I’m leaving whether you like it or not now let go!” I say pushing him. I didn’t realize that we were so close at the edge and I watched as Jihyun fell down the stairs and when he stopped , blood came out of his head. I couldn’t do anything except call his name while shouting for help. After that I agreed with my parents to leave for the States because I couldn’t handle the guilt.

My thoughts went back to the present and I quickly hold Jihyun’s arm pulling him towards me and spinning my body to the side. However I missed a step and stumble getting the force that I used to pull Jihyun back to me. The next thing I see was Jihyun screaming my name as I feel my body slowly falling to the ground.

I could feel my whole body throbbing but mostly my head. I slowly open my eyes and everything that I see looks blurred. I could see shadows and hear voices but not a single one is clear enough for me. Slowly, I could hear the people calling my name and when I blinked a few more times, the images became so clear. I look around to see a doctor then nurses then Jihyun. Jihyun?

“Jihyun?” I ask and he nods.

“Jaehyun. Are you okay? Do you feel hurt somewhere?” He asks back.

“My whole body hurts and mostly my head but…what are you doing here?” I reply.

“I’m so sorry. It’s my entire fault so I couldn’t leave you alone.” He replied and I got confused.

“What are you talking about? Why did you even come here? I thought I’m coming back home in two weeks?” I asked again and Jihyun’s face looked so mortified.

The doctor then asked me what the date is and I told them that it's day X of the month X and their expressions looked serious. They then asked me what I last remember and I told them that I was at my apartment preparing my things. They then asked me where I think I was and I told them about a hospital in the States.

“Jaehyun. The truth is you got into an accident. You fell on the road and a car quickly hit you. You have been asleep for almost a week.” The doctor explains. An accident? Why can’t I remember anything about an accident? Is that why my body feels so bad?

“But I don’t even remember anything about an accident.” I tell them.

“It seems you have a mild amnesia. The month and date you told me was around five months ago. Also you are not in the States anymore.” The doctor explains again. 5 months? I just lost 5 months of my memories? “I’m sure this is all frightening for you so I suggest that you should rest so your body could recover faster.” The doctor added and they left.

“Why are you here?” I ask Jihyun. I still remember what I did to him in middle school and I know that he won’t forgive me that easily.

“It’s because I’m worried.” He says.

“Stop lying. I know you hate me for what I did to you before.” I tell him.

“I don’t hate you Jaehyun. I know that it was an accident. I never blamed you for that.” He says. I looked at him and I could tell the sincerity in his eyes. “I’m sorry that I never talked to you but it was because I was scared. I was scared that you hate me.” He added.

“I don’t hate you. It’s true that I was envious but I never hated you.” I tell him. I really regretted what I did before and I would do anything for his sake. “I’m sorry too for being mean to you before.” I say.

“Do you know what happened to me?” I finally asked him. I want to know what happened in my accident and if Jihyun sincerely tells me that he’s sorry then I know that I could trust him. 

“You saved me. I was the one who almost got into an accident but you saved me.” He explains. “I tripped and you pulled me but then the force went back to you and that’s it.” He added.

“We were together?” I ask. I couldn’t believe that I was actually with Jihyun at that time because I know that I would do anything to move away from him.

“Yeah. We actually made up before and there are times where we would hang out.” He explains. 

I actually couldn’t believe that we made up after all this time. I’m very happy that I can finally be with my brother and have fun with him. Jihyun kept telling the times where we hung out and even the day that we made up and I happily listened to him.

A few hours later, I hear the door knock and Jihyun stands up to open it. A small guy that I don’t come in and then Youngtaek. Both of them looked so happy to see me, especially Youngtaek since he didn’t take a second to hug me.

“Ouch” I said and he quickly let go saying sorry.

“Um…who are you?” I ask looking at the little guy and Youngtaek asks me if I’m serious.

Jihyun stops them and pulls them to the side. I couldn’t hear anything they were talking about and I kind of felt jealous for being left behind. After a few minutes they stopped talking and went back to me.

“What did you guys talk about?” I ask and Jihyun tells me that he just explained what happened to them.

“I’m Seungmin. I’m Youngtaek’s friend.” The little guy introduced and I introduced myself back.

They spend an hour or so in my room telling me things about my time in university during the 5 months. They also told me to lean on them and to ask them for anything that I don’t understand and don’t know. I really appreciate them and the fact that I have someone to guide me when I go back to school.

They soon left and it didn’t take long after until my parents came. I didn’t know how to face them since I haven’t seen them for so long. Both of them never had a worried expression the moment they came in and I honestly felt running away. Jihyun told me to just take a rest while he talks to our parents about what happened.

Jihyun came back telling me that everything is fine and that he explained everything to our parents. I felt thankful for Jihyun for taking care of me like this. Maybe this accident of mine was actually a good thing and it’s kind of a way for us to finally reconcile.


	9. Chapter 9

Throughout the time that I was in the hospital, Jihyun took care of me. Our parents never came back which is sad but Jihyun is enough for me. He never left my side except when he has to go home to get new clothes or other essential items. Days later, my doctor said that I was good to go home but I still needed time to rest so going back to school is still not an option. Our driver drove us back home and I felt a bit nervous about coming back home.

When we arrived, everything still looked the same as the time that I went away. The driver and the maids carried our things back inside while Jihyun helped me move. Like the outside, the inside is still the same as I remember.

“Welcome home Jaehyun.” Jihyun says. He helped me go to my room and I was expecting my room to be the same but some things changed.

“Did someone go in here?” I ask Jihyun.

“Ahh...no. It’s actually you. You came back here like last month although you didn’t stay long.” Jihyun explains.

“Why did I come back?” I ask again.

“You weren’t eating properly and you collapsed. Mom and dad thought that it was a good idea to make you stay here so you can be monitored but you still left in the end.” He explains more.

Jihyun helped me with everything, whether it's going down the stairs or taking a bath or just wanting to get some fresh air, he never once rejected me. He also made sure to eat with me with every meal even if it's just the two of us and we’ll talk a lot about what happened to us during our high school days. 

Our parents never talked to us and although I still felt sad about it, Jihyun told me to take my time and soon they’ll probably open up more. Youngtaek and Seungmin frequently visited too and the four of us will play games or just talk.

After a week, my body is healed enough for me to go back to university. Although Youngtaek said that I have my own apartment, Jihyun and I decided that it would be better if I stayed at home until my body fully heals. Youngtaek always tries to take me to school along with Seungmin though there are days where he can’t which our family driver fills in.

“I’m so hungry!” I shouted, making Youngtaek and Seungmin surprised and I just laughed. “You guys should see what kind of face you’re making right now.” I say. 

“What do you want to eat?” Seungmin asks.

“Hmm...I don’t really know. Oh! Is there a place where I liked eating at? I think it’s also better for my memory if I go back to the places I usually go to.” I reply.

“Well there is a cafe where you always pick everytime it is your turn to choose our lunch.” Youngtaek says.

“Then let’s go there!” I say excitedly. 

While going to the cafe, I kept on ranting to them how it was so hard to catch up the lessons since I lost everything that I have learned before. Although my professors were very considerate, it was still not enough.

When we arrived, the cafe felt nostalgic and I could understand why I wanted to keep coming back here. I start to remember a few times that the three of us ate here and all I could see is Youngtaek complaining how we always eat here, making me chuckle.

I reached my hand to grab the door and I suddenly bumped into someone who did that same. I look at him and see that he was looking at his phone.

“Watch where you going” I tell him and he looks at me in shock but then he turns away ignoring me. “What the hell?” I say.

Youngtaek and Seungmin try to calm me down saying that I shouldn’t bother him much. Looking around the café felt so nostalgic, I could feel myself eating here a lot. I want to say that I’m cherishing the atmosphere and the feeling of the café but I can’t because the guy who bumped me kept looking at me. However, when I look at him back he looks away making me irritated. I couldn’t take the gaze anymore so I stood up and went up to him.

“I’m sorry but did I do something bad to you?” I ask him and he looks at me confused.

“What?” He asks dumb founded.

“I’m asking you if I did something to you. You kept looking at me but then ignored me when I looked back. It’s irritating you know. If you want to say something then says it to my face.” I firmly say.

The people around us began to whisper but I didn’t care. The guy kept silent making me madder. Before I could say anything, Youngtaek suddenly pulled me away asking me to calm down while Seungmin went to the guy.

“I’m sorry Jibeom.''I hear Seungmin say. Seungmin and the guy named Jibeom talked for a while before Seungmin moved away looking mad. I waited for him to come back to our seat and when he came back I asked him what they’re talking about.

“I just explained the situation. I told him that you’re quite sensitive since you lost your memories and he quickly understood.” Seungmin explains.

“If he understood then why did you come back mad?” I asked and he flinched.

“Ahh…that is…sorry. The truth is he said that he didn’t care which kind of made me mad.” He explained and I told him that I didn’t care what Jibeom thinks too.

“Did I know him?” I ask and both of them answered no in sync. “Then why do you know his name? I heard you call him Jibeom” I say.

Seungmin bites his lips before answering my question, “Youngtaek and I actually know him. He’s from the same high school.” Seungmin says and Youngtaek agrees.

"Is that so?" I say. I didn't know why but it felt like I have met Jibeom before but since Youngtaek and Seungmin say that I didn't then my feeling must be wrong.

“Do you have any plans for today? We could hang out if you want.” Youngtaek suddenly asks.

“I’m going home today. Jihyun and I are planning to have dinner together. You know, I’m really happy that we finally got along after all these years. I think my accident is a blessing for us to finally put our past behind us.” I explain but then Seungmin slams his hand on the table.

“Stop. Don’t say that your accident is a blessing.” He says having a pained look. Youngtaek tries to calm him down but Seungmin looks like he doesn’t want to. I wanted to ask why he said that but something in me tells me that I mustn't. After that, both of them left and I was left alone in the cafe. They also didn’t contact me after class which made me mad to be honest.

“I’m home” I say and I suddenly hear someone running.

“Welcome home Jaehyun!” Jihyun says while he hugs me.

“Why are you so excited? We just saw each other this morning.” I say laughing and hugging him back.

“I just missed you.” He replies, pulling himself away. “Are you hungry? You can ask the chef to cook any food you want.” Jihyun added.

“Well...I was planning to cook.” I say. It felt like I wanted to cook something for Jihyun as a way of thanks for taking care of me after the accident.

“Really? I want to help too. I’ll ask the chef if we could borrow the kitchen.” He excitedly said. I went to my room to change my clothes first before coming down to the kitchen. It was a good thing that the chef lets us borrow the kitchen while our parents aren’t around.

“What are you planning to cook?” Jihyun asks.

“Hmm…” I tried to remember the food that I used to cook during my stay in the States until an image of a food came to my mind, “How about instant pot korean beef?” I reply. 

“That sounds delicious. Should we prepare the ingredients?” He asked and I said yes. I told Jihyun the ingredients that we needed so he could wash them first.

I taught Jihyun how to cut the vegetables and he looked so cute trying to cut them carefully. The chef wanted to help him but he was persistent to cut them himself. While he’s cutting the vegetables, I prepared the meat.

“Hey Jaehyun...did you always cook?” Jihyun asks.

“Not really. I mean I did cook sometimes but only when I had a lot of time. I usually cook easy made meals and…” I explained but then I remembered something.

“And what?” Jihyun asked again.

“And premade ones.” I added. I never remembered cooking something as complicated as this while living in the States. Why do I know how to cook this meal then? Did I learn this before leaving or maybe...did someone teach me? Suddenly an image of me and another person cooking comes into my mind.

“Jaehyun?Jaehyun!” I heard Jihyun scream so I turned my head to look at him. “Are you okay? You were spacing out.” He says.

“Yeah. I’m sorry. I just thought that I remembered something.” I explain then go back to cooking. Minutes later and we finally finished and Jihyun left to prepare the table. 

Jihyun looked so happy eating the meal while saying that it was better than restaurant food. We talked a lot about school but it was mostly Jihyun who talked because I still couldn’t forget what I remembered before.

“Jihyun...did I live with someone before?” I suddenly asked, making Jihyun startled.

“No. Why do you think so?” He replies.

“I just see someone with me but it’s a bit blurry to be honest. But maybe I was just wrong.” I explain, slightly laughing.

Jihyun didn’t respond back and his face went serious. The dinner continued in silence after that and Jihyun excused himself after finishing his meal. The maids said that they’ll be the one who will clean up so I could rest. I tried to talk to Jihyun before going to my room but he dismissed me saying he was tired. I went to my room and lied down thinking if I said something wrong to make Jihyun mad. I closed my eyes to concentrate but it eventually made me sleep.

"Jaehyun…" I hear someone say. I look around but all I see is darkness. I shout asking if someone is there but the person keeps saying my name. I look around hoping that I'll be able to see the person. Soon, I see a shadow like a person walking away. 

"Hey! Stop! Who are you?" I ask but the person keeps walking away while saying my name. "Hey! Why do you know my name?" I shout, making the person stop walking and turn around.

"Jaehyun...I'm sorry" He says as he vanishes away. I tried to stop him running as fast as I could. "Stop! Don't go! Wait!" I scream, reaching out my hand.

I wake up feeling tired and out of breath. My heart feels like it's beating out of my chest. Who was that? Why did I have that kind of dream?

“Are you okay?” Seungmin asks.

“You look terrible Jaehyun.” Youngtaek adds.

“I’m fine. I just didn’t get enough sleep.” I say. After having that kind of dream, I couldn’t sleep anymore until sunrise came.

“Dude if you’re tired then maybe you should just go home.” Youngtaek says.

“No. Seriously I’m fine though. I didn’t get to hangout with you guys yesterday and things also went bad so I wanted to make up for it.” I explain.

“Sorry for getting mad at you yesterday. None of it was your fault so you don’t need to do something for us.” Seungmin says looking very worried at me. “If you’re tired then it’s really for the best that you go home.” He added.

I nodded saying that he was probably right and Seungmin smiled. However, that smile soon vanished turning into a surprised then nervous face. 

“Since you agree we should probably go home now.” He says dragging me and Youngtaek.

“Seungmin!” Someone shouts and I turn around to see three guys.

“Hey...Joochan. Long time no see.” Seungmin says while Youngtaek went in front of me. The guy he called Joochan saw me and his face lit up. 

“Isn’t that Jihyun? Hey Jihyun. Don’t you remember us?” He asked but Youngtaek kept hiding me.

“He’s not. This is Jaehyun. Jihyun’s twin.” Seungmin explains. 

“Twin? I didn’t know Jihyum had a twin.” The taller guy says and the shorter one agrees. 

“He has. Anyway, what are you guys doing here?” Seungmin asks.

“We’re planning to watch a movie. You guys want to join or do you have any plans?” Joochan asks.

“We were actually about leave.” Seungmin replies.

“That’s sad. I thought that maybe you’d like to watch horror with us.” Joochan says.

“What horror? I thought we’re watching action?” Donghyun angrily asks.

The two then bickered at what genre of movie they should watch while the Bomin tried to calm them down. I couldn’t help but laugh at how they’re fighting like kids again which made them stop and look at me.

“I’m sorry but you two still can’t decide the same thing. If Jibeom saw this then he might…” Wait a minute. If Jibeom what now?

“You know Jibeom?” Joochan asks.

All their faces are in shock at what I just said and honestly I am too. How did I suddenly know their names and why did I say Jibeom’s name? I didn’t know how to explain it myself so I just ran away from them.

“Wait Jaehyun!” Someone grabbed my hand and stopped me from running. I looked behind to see who it was and it was Youngtaek. “Do you remember something?” He asks.

“I...I...I don’t know. I didn’t know why I said that. It just suddenly came out.” I explain. Seungmin catches up to us and he asks Youngtaek if I finally remembered. 

“He didn’t.” Youngtaek replies.

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t know why.” I say and Seungmin holds my hand.

“It’s okay Jaehyun. Don’t force yourself to remember your memories.” He says.

“Did I know them? Since you asked if I remember then it must mean that I remember, right?” I asked and both of them looked hesitant to answer.

“You did. You’ve actually met them before.” Youngtaek answered which made Seungmin flustered. 

“Youngtaek!” Seungmin shouts.

“He could at least know this much.” Youngtaek says while looking at Seungmin seriously. Seungmin then lets out a sigh letting Youngtaek continue. “You do know them but you’ve only met them once. Remember how we said that Jibeom is our junior? Well, those are his friends in university.” Youngtaek explains.

“If I have met them then why didn’t they know me? How come they knew Jihyun?” I ask. 

“Because Jihyun and Jibeom used to be classmates in middle school. And although you have met them, they never met you. You just saw them from afar.” Seungmin explains.

“I see...I guess that’s the reason why it felt familiar.” I say laughing a bit. “Well, since that’s answered I think we should probably go.” I added.

“Jaehyun. I know you’re tired, especially now that this happened. I think it’s best if you just go home today.” Seungmin says. As much as I hate to admit it, they are right. I’m tired from lack of sleep and with just what happened, my body is feeling worse.

“Fine. I’ll go home today.” I say.

“Good. We’ll drive you home.” Youngtaek says but I stopped him.

“No. I’ll go home by myself today. I just want to have a walk to clear my mind before going.” I explain. I wasn’t lying that I want to clear my mind first but I also don’t want to go home yet because of my dream.

“But we can’t leave you alone. We’ll join you with your walk if you want.” Seungmin suggests but I said that I really want to have time for myself. I convinced them that I know my way home and that I’ll contact Jihyun if something happens. 

Eventually they let me go and I waved at them while I watched them drive off from the mall. I walked around outside until I reached a park. The park looked familiar again like I have been here before. It’s late at night but there are still some people around making it a little lively.

“I wish my memories would come back.” I mutter. It has been painful for me to not know anything about my life for the past few months. I just wished that they’ll come back so that everything will be back to normal.

After a few minutes, I start to walk again while thinking about all the sudden images I keep having and the dream. Wait a minute. Youngtaek and Seungmin said that I never met Jibeom but why did I meet his friends? Are they not telling me something? I keep thinking about the things that they said to me and the part with Jibeom is the one that doesn’t really make sense. 

I reached my hand to the doorknob and...doorknob? I look up and see a door in front of my face! Where the hell am I? I look around and it looks like I’m in an apartment building. 


	10. Chapter 10

“What am I doing here?” I ask myself. I don’t even remember how I got here because of all the things in my head. 

I wasn’t even fully calmed yet when the door suddenly opened. I’m squirming around trying to figure out where I could hide but I can’t see anything.

“Jaehyun? What are you doing here?” Someone asked and I looked back at the door to see who it was.

“You’re Jibeom, right?” I ask back.

Jibeom looked stunned hearing me say his name. I’m even surprised at myself that I came here and stopped exactly at his door. 

“Yeah. Why are you here?” He asks.

“Sorry...I don’t really know myself. My feet just dragged me here.” I explain. 

“Then do you want to come inside? You must be tired from walking.” He asks again. 

“Are you sure? You were about to go out, right?” I ask. Why would Jibeom invite me to his home? 

“Yeah but it’s better for you to rest first before going home.” He says opening the door for me.

“Thanks.” I reply. The moment I stepped inside the apartment, the air around me went heavy. We kept walking until we reached the living room. The room felt very familiar like I’ve been here many times before. I stood there still just looking at it until I felt something warm and wet fall down to my cheeks.

“What? What is?” I wiped my face and I realized that I’m crying. “Why am I crying?” I ask while still wiping my tears.

“Jaehyun?” Jibeom turns around and sees me crying. “Why are you suddenly crying?” He worriedly asked.

I couldn’t answer him as I continued to cry until my legs gave out. Jibeom tries to calm me down by hugging me and patting my head. His warmth felt so comfortable and relaxing that I slowly dozed off.

I wake up sleeping on his couch with a blanket on top. I stood up to look around but I couldn’t find Jibeom anywhere. A door suddenly opens and Jibeom comes out.

“You’re finally awake? Do you feel much better now?” He asks.

“Yeah. Thanks.” I reply.

“I don’t know the reason why you suddenly cried like that but it’s good that you let it out like that.” He says. “Also it’s already late at night so you better just stay the night here.” He added.

“Thanks.” I say. I checked my phone to see what time it is and saw that I’ve got a lot of missed calls from Seungmin, Youngtaek and Jihyun. Jihyun must be worried sick about me not coming home yet so I gave him a call.

“Jaehyun! Where are you? Why weren’t you answering your phone?” Jihyun screams over the phone. 

“I fell asleep, that's why I couldn’t answer your calls.” I explain.

“Fell asleep? Where are you? I called Youngtaek and he said that you were going home.” Jihyun asks.

“I’m at a friend’s place...” I say. I was about to say who but then Jibeom grabs my phone away. “Hey! Give me back my phone!” I shout at him.

Jibeom didn’t listen as he continued to take my phone and talk to Jihyun. Few minutes later he comes back, returning my phone.

“Here. I told your brother what happened and he agreed to let you stay the night.” He explains. “Are you hungry? Let me see if I have some food here.” He says going to the kitchen.

“Why are you so nice to me? Just a few days before you were ignoring me and now you’re letting me stay at your house.” I ask. I really don’t understand why Jibeom suddenly decides to be nice to me.

Jibeom didn’t answer me and just continued to look for some food that I could eat. He finally takes out something from the fridge that looks something like bread. 

“Here. I only have seafood in my fridge but thank goodness that I still have some bread left.” He says handing me the bread. 

“How did you know that I didn’t like seafood?” I asked and his eyes grew big.

“You just look like someone who doesn’t like seafood.” He replies.

“That doesn’t make sense but...thanks.” I say smiling. I take the bread from his hand and eat it. “You’re right. I couldn’t eat seafood because I hated it. But it’s funny because despite hating it, I’m really fascinated with sea creatures. Someone even asked why I liked them if I hated seafood. You know what I replied?” I asked, looking at Jibeom.

“What?” He asked.

“I said that it doesn’t mean I hate eating them doesn’t mean that I don’t want to look at them.” I replied and Jibeom suddenly dropped his phone.

“Are you okay?” I asked and he hurriedly picked up his phone.

“Yeah. I’m sorry about that. You said the same thing as my friend before so it kinda shocked me.” He said.

“Your friend hates seafood too?” I curiously asked.

“He does. The things he likes and hates are sometimes opposite.He hates seafood but gets excited looking at the sea creatures at the restaurant. He likes to watch horror but gets scared easily. He scolds me for not cleaning but doesn’t like cleaning too.” He explains and I could see him smile a little.

He must really like his friend that much if he could smile like that while talking about him. The image that I have for Jibeom has completely changed, now that I was able to talk to him. I thought that he was this arrogant guy who didn’t like being bothered by other people. Instead, he’s actually very kind and cute.

“Hey Jibeom...we’ve met before, right?” I suddenly asked.

“No. Meeting you at the cafe was the first.” He coldly replies.

“Don’t lie. I met your friends earlier and I suddenly asked if you were with them. I don’t remember meeting them but it felt natural to ask about you. Seungmin and Youngtaek admitted that they were your friends so if I hadn’t met you before, then how did I meet them?” I explained and Jibeom was still silent. “So you won’t say anything.” I mutter.

“I did meet you before but we weren’t friends or anything. We just met at the mall and that was it.” He replies. I wanted to believe what he said but something in me tells me that he was lying and I wanted to tell him that but at the same time I was scared.

Jibeom didn’t tell me anything else afterward and told me to use the blanket and pillows on the couch freely. I said my thanks as he went to his bedroom to sleep while I tuck myself in. If only I have the courage to ask him more then maybe I could remember a bit of my past.

“Jaehyun...wake up. Wake up.” I hear someone say and I open my eyes to see everything in darkness again. “Jaehyun. Wake up.” The voice says again.

“Who are you? Why do you know me? Please tell me!” I shouted but I didn’t get any response. I look around until I see a familiar shadow walking away. “Wait! Stop! Please don’t leave me!” I shouted more but the person kept walking away so I reached my hand to stop them.

“No! Don’t leave!” I shout and my body sits up. I look around and remember that I crashed at Jibeom’s place for the night.

“What’s wrong? You were shouting just now?” Jibeom asks.

“Nothing. I just had a bad dream.” I replied.

Jibeom gave me some water to calm myself before I could have my breakfast. I was a bit embarrassed to have breakfast at his place since I inconvenienced him far enough last night. However, Jibeom didn’t let me leave his house not until I had eaten something first. I gave in to his request and I ate the meal that he made for me.

Jibeom offered me a ride but I told him that I have caused him enough trouble and that I could go home by myself. He understood and told me to be careful and that I shouldn’t go anywhere else. When I got home, Jihyun scolded me a lot and I honestly couldn’t say anything back because I knew that he was right. Seungmin and Youngtaek also gave me a huge scolding when I met them at the university.

Everything went the same after that and I even got to meet Jibeom a few more times. However, I still kept dreaming the same shadow and images of me and them being together in a place that I don’t recognize. 

“Are you okay Jaehyun? You seem to be too tired lately.” Jihyun asked while he started to eat his breakfast.

“I’m fine. I just keep having these weird dreams lately.” I explain.

Jihyun asked what kind of dreams I was having and I told him about the same figure that I keep seeing in my dreams. He then asked if I knew the person that I was dreaming and I replied that I didn’t.

“Maybe it’s just an effect from losing your memory. You shouldn’t think much about it.” He says.

“I guess. Speaking of my memory, I’m starting to remember some people.” I told him and he stopped eating. 

“What?” He asked.

“I’m starting to remember some people. Like I recognize them but that’s just it.” I explained and Jihyun calmed down.

“Then that’s good but you shouldn’t push yourself to remember more.” He said and I agreed.

After I finished eating, I said my goodbye to Jihyun and went straight to the university. I tried my best to listen well in class despite wanting to sleep. However, I slowly started to doze off while we were watching a video presentation.

Everything is pitched black again and I know that I’m having the same dream again. I walk around trying to find that person again but no matter where I run, I can’t seem to find or hear them. Soon I started to see a light and I thought that following that light will lead me to that person.

The light grew bigger and brighter that it became so blinding that I had to close my eyes. After a few seconds, I slowly start to open them and I’m suddenly near a river. On the other side, I saw a familiar figure and I knew that it was that person again. I jumped to the river hoping that I could go over to the other side but the water started to pull me down.

“No! Stop! I have to go there!” I shout. The person starts to turn around and walk away. “Don’t go!” I shouted at him.

“I love you Jaehyun.” That person says and the water pulls me down deep into the river.

I wake up and I see Youngtaek and Seungmin inside my classroom. I looked around and everybody left except me.

“You weren’t coming out of your building and it turns out that you actually fell asleep in class.” Youngtaek says. I didn’t care what Youngtaek was saying because I’m trying to remember my dream and now that I think of it, the river looked very familiar. 

“Youngtaek. Do you know a big river here?” I ask.

“What? A big river? You mean the main river of the city?” He asked back.

“Take me there! Please!” I beg at him. Youngtaek and Seungmin looked very confused but I kept begging at them to take me there.

Eventually, both of them agreed to take me to the river. Seungmin tried to calm me in the car and thankfully, it worked. A few minutes later, we arrived at the river and just what I had thought, it looked exactly the same in my dream.

“Having a walk by the river sure is relaxing,” Seungmin says while he looks at the river.

“It is nice but why did you suddenly want to go here?” Youngtaek asked me and I looked down.

“The truth is, I start to see and dream things. I think it’s part of my memory and in class, I dreamt about this place. I thought that maybe coming here will help me remember.” I explain.

Both of them didn’t ask more questions and we continued to walk around until I recognized a certain area. It felt like my body remembered too because my feet just started to run towards there. Upon arriving, I could remember me being here with someone but I can’t seem to fully see what happened and who the person is.

“Why did you start running?” Seungmin asked while they tried to catch their breath running up to me.

“I’ve been here with someone but I can’t seem to fully remember why and who.” I say. I felt so restless that I couldn’t remember anything even though the answer feels so near. Seungmin tried to calm me down again saying that I shouldn’t rush trying to bring back my memories.

No matter how long I stayed there, my memories still didn’t return. All I saw was a shadow of a person and images of us standing together. Youngtaek eventually convinced me to give up for the day. However, as we were leaving I saw a 2020 Lexus LC and I remembered Jibeom having the same car.

“Huh? How did I know that Jibeom has the same car?” I mutter. The images of my dream became more and more clear and I could see the shadow slowly turning into Jibeom.

These sudden images that I have were too much and I didn’t know what to do. My head starts to spin and hurts, making me panic. I couldn’t see or hear anything else except the dreams that I had.

“Jaehyun look out!” I hear someone shout and I see a biker coming to my direction. I moved back but then I stumbled and fell, hitting my head on the railings.

Slowly my memories for the past 5 months start to return flooding my brain. I start to remember everything starting from when I went back from the States to meeting with Youngtaek and Seungmin. I remember all the time that Youngtaek, Seungmin and I hung out. The time where they confessed that they were dating and the times where they comforted me.

I then remembered meeting with Jibeom and how we became roommates and then how I fell in love with him. I remember how we confessed to each other. I remember how we got together and how I broke up with him because of Jihyun and how he told me how much he loves me by the river giving back the bracelet that I’ve returned.

But most of all, I remembered how he suddenly broke up with me and how I confronted Jihyun which led me to my accident. I remember those entire things and I broke out in tears from the overflowing memories and emotions.

“Everything’s a lie. What everyone told me is a lie.” I say to myself as everything starts to get clear.


	11. Chapter 11

“What?” Youngtaek asks.

“Both of you are lying right now. Jibeom isn’t your junior in high school. He’s not just someone that I happened to meet right?” I tell them seriously.

“You...remember.” Seungmin says and Youngtaek finally understands what is happening.

“Why did you guys lie to me? I thought you were my friends!” I ask them. I felt betrayed that they didn’t tell me anything and that they even lied.

“I’m sorry Jaehyun. I wanted to tell you the truth but…” Seungmin hesitantly says.

“But what?” I firmly ask.

“Jihyun stopped us. He told us that we shouldn’t say anything unnecessary to you especially about your family and Jibeom.” Youngtaek explains. “The truth is, when we met Jibeom again in the cafe, Seungmin wanted to tell you the truth already but when he explained the situation to Jibeom, he said that we shouldn’t reveal anything too.” He added.

“We’re sorry Jaehyun. We really wanted to but because Jihyun and Jibeom wouldn’t let us, we couldn’t actually do it.” Seungmin says and both of them put their head down.

I feel so mad about everyone, about Youngtaek, Seungmin, Jibeom and most of all Jihyun. I couldn’t believe that Jihyun would lie to me like that. I don’t know if it was for revenge or what but all I know is that I have to talk to him.

“I’m still mad at you two but I do understand why you did it. For now I’ll talk to Jihyun. I’ll make sure that he tells me everything that I need to know.” I said that to them and they just said sorry to me again.

I went back home to make Jihyun explain as to why he had to lie about everything. I go inside our house looking for him, checking every room he could possibly be. It wasn’t until I went to my own room that I found him inside.

“Jaehyun? What are you suddenly doing here?” he asks and I slam the door shut behind me hinting him that I was mad. “I’m sorry if I went to your room. I just wanted to look around” he says.

“That’s not what I’m mad about Jihyun. Why did you lie to me?” I say and I could see him flinch.

“I didn’t lie to you.” He replies.

“You could stop pretending. I remember everything. Why didn’t you tell the truth?” I ask again and Jihyun doesn’t say anything. “Jihyun please tell me the truth. Please tell me everything because I wouldn’t understand a thing if you don’t. I don’t want us to fight again like before.” I tell him with tears coming out of my eyes.

“Jaehyun…the truth is, it all started after our parents found out that I was dating Jibeom. They quickly disapproved of my relationship with him and they told me that if I still wanted to stay with the family then I would have to break up with him. As a middle school student I got scared so I did what they told me.” He explains. So that’s the reason why he suddenly broke up without a proper explanation but it still doesn’t explain everything he has done.

“I thought that if I did what they told me they would accept me again but I was wrong. They thought that I was a bad influence because I’m gay so they decided for you to move away while they straighten me up.” He added.

“You mean they wanted me to move away not because they hate me but because of you?” I ask him.

“Yes. That is why I told you that it was for your own good.” He says.

“Why didn’t tell me the truth then?” I ask again.

“I thought you’ll be the same. I thought that since you never really liked me that much, you would hate me also.” He explains.

“You idiot! It’s true that I didn’t talk to you much before but not because I hated you but because I was jealous of you. Who I hated were our parents who gave so much value in achievements rather than their own children. I would never hate you because you’re my brother.” I tell him and Jihyun tears up.

“I’m sorry Jaehyun. It’s just…I also hated myself. I thought that I was wrong and abnormal like they told me. I thought that I had to change for them.” Jihyun cried so I hugged him.

“You’re not abnormal. If you like someone then you like them. Their gender doesn’t mean anything when it comes to love.” I say while patting his head. “Is that also the same reason why you told Jibeom to break up with me?” I ask.

“Yes. I was afraid that mom and dad will do the same thing to you so before they found out, I told Jibeom everything and to break up with you. I’m so sorry Jaehyun” He explains. I pull myself away and hold his cheeks.

“I understand now. I’m sorry for what I had done and said to you before but I still won’t hide the fact that I love Jibeom. I’m not afraid of mom and dad pushing me away just because I want to be with him so I want you to have a little faith with me. They have pushed me away already so it really doesn’t change that much now if they found out.” I tell him, making him laugh a little.

“I’m so sorry Jaehyun. I really regret everything that I have done.” He says.

“I’m sorry too for not being there for you. I’m sorry that my jealousy got in my head.” I replied, opening arms and he jumped in for a hug.

“I’m so glad we finally made up,” he says, making me chuckle. He pulls away and asks me what I was going to do now and I tell him that I’m going to fix everything which he understood.

Jihyun asked if I needed a ride but I told him that I’ll be fine and that it’s better if I come alone. Jihyun agreed and told me to be careful and that he’ll try to support me with what I want to do next. 

I said my goodbye to him before leaving our house. I didn’t know how long I was running until I reached the station. I ride the train and as I’m getting closer to my stop, my heart keeps beating fast. When I reached my station, I ran again until I reached the apartment then went up to the floor.

My heart is beating really hard right now and I don’t know if it was because I’m nervous to talk to him again or because I ran for so long. Either way I know that I’m not leaving here until I properly talk to him. I look at Jibeom’s door while I try to have courage to speak with. How long has it been since I’ve been here? I take a deep breath before ringing his door and soon Jibeom opens his door. Jibeom looked so surprised to see me standing in front of him.

“Can we talk inside?” I ask him and he hesitantly says yes. When we arrived at the area I sat patting the seat beside me. Jibeom understood what I meant and he sat down to the place I patted.

“What did you want to talk about?” he asks.

“I remember everything Jibeom.” I say not looking at his face.

“If you remember then you should know that you shouldn’t be here anymore.” He says.

“I know but remember that I said that I wouldn’t just accept you break up without a proper explanation.” I reply.

“What I said before was the only explanation. Please leave now.” He says and this time I finally look at him. He says that yet he looks so hurt by his own words.

“If that is true then you wouldn’t look so hurt like that?” I tell him holding his hand. “Jibeom you can stop lying now. I already know the truth. Jihyun finally said the truth to me.” I say gently smiling at him and he finally looks at me.

“Then all the more reason. Jaehyun I don’t want you to lose your family.” Jibeom says.

“I don’t care if that happens because I’d rather lose them rather than lose you because you have accepted me. Plus I’m not going to lose all my family because I still have Jihyun. Jibeom I want you to trust me this time. I want us to be together. I love you.” I tell him and he tears up. I hold his face wiping his tears away. It’s funny how Jibeom is the one crying this time while I’m the one who’s comforting him.

“I love you too. I love you very much Jaehyun.” He says and I lean in to kiss him. Jibeom pulls me to his room, pushing me to his bed and hugging me tight. Everything felt so nice and I’ve missed the feeling of hugging him. I stayed there for a bit but having him beside me suddenly and even just being in his room quickly gave me a reaction.

“Um...Jibeom. Can we go back to the living room?” I shyly ask him and he asks why. “Everything smells like you in here so…” I couldn’t continue without blushing really hard and I think Jibeom understood what I meant. However, instead of leaving the room, Jibeom starts to remove his clothes.

“I’m sorry Jaehyun. I wanted to refrain today but seeing you liked that made me turn on too.” He says before he starts to pin me down, kissing me deeply.

My body still remembers Jibeom’s touch and everytime he touches the same place he did before, it gives me great pleasure. He didn’t let me go throughout the day and even at night, like he’s making up from the time we lost. 

The next thing I knew is that I woke up seeing Jibeom sleeping soundly beside me. I reach my hand to his head playing with his hair while I watch him sleep.

“I love you so much,” I say.

“I love you too.” he replies, opening his eyes and laughing.

“You were awake?” I ask and he hugs me, still laughing.

“I just woke up when you confessed.” He says kissing me on my forehead. “What do you want to do today?” he asks.

“I want to talk to my parents. I want to introduce you to them.” I told him and Jibeom looked frightened. “I told Jihyun that I’ll make things right this time and that includes talking to my parents. I’m ready to face the consequences.” I told him and Jibeom stayed silent for a while.

"I know you're scared but please trust me. I can handle whatever they throw at me." I told him again and he nodded, kissing me on the lips this time.

We get ready and Jibeom drives us to my house. I could clearly see that he's still hesitant and scared for me and I understand why. We finally arrived and Jibeom told me that he'll just stay in the car but I told him that he should come. When he still didn't want to, I took his arm and pulled him inside our house.

I ask the maid where my parents are and they said that they went out a little while ago but they'll be home by lunch. I also asked her where Jihyun is and she said that he's probably in his room. I said thank you to her and I take Jibeom to my room where we could wait until my parents arrives. 

"Let's wait here." I tell him and he looks around my room. "Do you want to see my pictures?" I asked and he excitedly said yes.

I took my picture books from the shelf and brought them to him. He opens it and the pictures are mostly from the time in my middle school. A lot of it is with Youngtaek since he was my only friend at that time.

"You two are really close." He said and I asked him if he was jealous and he said a little. 

He goes to look at the other picture books from when I was in elementary until he reached the part when I was a baby until I was 6. The pictures are all with Jihyun and my parents having fun together in different places. Jibeom went silent while looking at the pictures.

"We used to be so close. I remember just laughing every single day at that time." I said that to him and he closed the book. "I'm lying if I say that I never wished that we would get close again like before but if that means sacrificing what I want then I'd rather not wish it to happen anymore." I tell him leaning my head on his shoulder.

While still waiting for my parents, I went to Jihyun's room. I knocked on the door, calling him out and telling him that Jibeom and I were just in my room if he wanted to talk with us. Jihyun didn't reply and I just went away.

After a few hours, I hear my parents car by the driveway. I told Jibeom that we should go to the living room and wait for them there. He agreed and we went out to my room nervously. We waited and finally my parents came inside.

"Hello." I suddenly greeted making them startled.

"Jaehyun. Why'd the sudden visit?" My mom asks. Both of them looked at me first and them Jibeom. You could see in their faces the displeasure of seeing Jibeom with me. "Why is he here?" My dad asks this time.

"We're dating." I say and their eyes widened.

"I don't have time for jokes Jaehyun. Send him home now." My dad says 

"I'm not joking dad. I'm seriously dating him" I firmly say.

"Jaehyun! Enough of your games! Get him out of this house. I don't want to see his face." My dad shouts while my mom tries to calm him down.

"I'm not playing. And don't worry, we'll leave soon." I tell him.

"You don't know what you're talking about. You're just confused. And you-" she says then points to Jibeom. "I want you to leave my sons alone." She says to him.

"I'm not confused mom. I love Jibeom and that is the truth. I won't let you make us break." I reply holding Jibeom's hand.

"You! Fine. If you want to stay with him then you'll leave this house too. Remember that the moment you walk out the door with him then you'll never be part of this family again." My dad says.

"Then go ahead. You never even cared for me that much. All you cared about is how I should look decent to the public and that I should have many achievements for you to boast about. I'll gladly leave this family if it means losing my happiness" I reply, making my mother mad.

"You ungrateful child!" My mom shouts lifting up her hand to slap. I closed my eyes, ready to accept my mom's anger but it never happened. 

"You! Let me go Jihyun!" My mother says and I open my eyes to find Jihyun in front of me, holding mom's wrist. 

"I won't let you hit Jaehyun." He says and mom pulls away her hand.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you get close to Jaehyun. Because of you your brother became the same. You should have died back then." My dad says making me mad this time.

"What did you say? You wanted him dead? What kind of parents think that their child should have died just because they like the same gender?! You call me ungrateful but what about you? Do you know how much sacrifice Jihyun did for you? Do you know how much he hated himself because you couldn't accept him?" I tell them.

"Be angry at me all you want and I would gladly accept all that because I know what I had been doing all along but Jihyun did so much just so he could make you guys happy. If you actually cared and loved us then you would accept us both" I added.

"If you want Jaehyun out of this family then I'll join him too. I'll leave so you can never see me again too. I always did what you told me and because of that I hurted myself and Jaehyun. From now on, I also want to find my own happiness." Jihyun says and I look at him in shock. 

I look back to my parents to see their reaction and both of them looked disappointed yet sad. My mom lets out a sigh while looking down on the ground.

"I can't believe you two. You two have always been a pain ever since you were little because both of you always like to do the same thing. You can do whatever you want and I won't say a thing anymore." My mom says lifting her head and smiling.

"But honey! We can't let them be like that!" Dad says.

"I'd rather have the two of them be like that rather than lose them both. They already made their decision before we threatened them so it's no use anymore." Mom explains. 

“Please let us be together! I promise you that I’m never going to let Jaehyun cry. I will also do my best to secure his future.” Jibeom suddenly says, making my parents surprised.

“Do you know what you’re promising right now? How would you be able to stop the critics that Jaehyun will have from being with you?” Dad asked.

“I can’t stop them but I won’t let them affect both our futures because we did nothing wrong. I will protect Jaehyun at all costs so please accept our relationship.” Jibeom explained.

“Do your parents know about this?” Dad asked again.

“Yes. They know everything.” Jibeom proudly replies.

“Then I have nothing more to say. You do whatever you want.” Dad says turning around. Mom followed him and before they left the room, dad said something. “At Least try to come home once in a while Jaehyun. Your mother misses you very much.” He says.

“Yes.” I say tearing up. I never actually believe that I would hear the word miss from him.

“And Jihyun!” He shouts startling Jihyun.

“Yes?” Jihyun asks.

“You should find your own happiness too.” He lastly said before both of them left the room.

The moment we couldn’t see them anymore, Jihyun fell on the floor crying. Jibeom and I comforted him while he kept saying sorry for ruining our relationship. I hugged him tightly telling him that it was alright and that Jibeom and I are not mad at him anymore. Jihyun hugged me back and I never let go of him until he calmed down.

When he finally calmed down, I told him that he should be more proud with himself and that if trouble ever comes then he just needs to call me. Jihyun thanked me and told us to be careful while going back home. 

We left the house and while I’m looking out the window I noticed that we were going away from the apartment. The view became more and more familiar and I finally noticed where we were going.

“Why?” I asked Jibeom but he didn’t say anything. We arrived at the place and when he stopped the car, I quickly stepped out. 

“I never kept my promise so I want to do it again.” He says facing against the river. “Jaehyun. I promise you this time that I will always protect you. I promise that I will never let go of you again like last time. Will you stay with me forever?” He says and I smile at him, holding his hands.

“I also promise you that I will stay beside you no matter what happens and that I’ll love you with all my heart. I love you Jibeom and I will always be your partner.” I reply and Jibeom tears up but still smiled at me,

“I love you too Jaehyun.” He says leaning to kiss me. I move closer putting my arms around his neck while he puts his hand on my waist. 

I don't know what kind of problems we will have in the future but I know that as long as we have each other, we will be able to solve them because that is something we both promised to each other.

End. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story and I'm sorry if it has grammatical and spelling errors. I also posted this first on twitter but due to personal reasons, I have to delete it there and post it here. There are also small changes that I did. Thank you for reading.


End file.
